Top Chinese tour operator CITS and a subsidiary have joined hands with four other Chinese outbound tour operators to set up a Hong Kong-based company provisionally named China Overseas Tourism Investment Management Co.
CITS and subsidiary CDF hold 45% of the tour operator JV
CITS is putting in HK$6.75 million and its wholly-owned subsidiary China Duty Free Group is contributing HK$13.5 million to jointly hold 45% stake in the joint venture.
The other four partner companies – Utour, Vista, Caissa Tongsheng and Phoenix Travel Worldwide Co.– will put up a total of HK$45 million for the joint venture.
Utour and Vista are each investing HK$5.625 million and Caissa Tongsheng and Phoenix Travel are investing HK$6.75 million each in the JV. Utour owns 70% of Vista and Caissa Tongsheng is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caissa Touristic.
CITS said the joint venture company will invest in destinations popular among Chinese travelers and will manage upstream resources such as retail in overseas destinations to develop tourism retail in overseas markets.
One industry observer pointed out that this partnership, involving three listed companies, to develop destinations services is a good example of resources consolidation and cooperation in the industry.(Translation by David)
