Jumeirah Inks Digital Agreement With Ctrip To Woo Chinese Tourists

Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel in Shanghai

In an effort to lure more outbound Chinese travelers to its properties in Dubai, the Maldives and elsewhere, this week Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts signed a global direct connectivity partnership agreement with leading Chinese online travel company Ctrip.com in Shanghai. Designed to let Chinese travelers directly book accommodations at Jumeirah resorts around the world, the agreement marks the first time a Middle East-based luxury hotelier has worked with Ctrip.

According to a company release, the new direct connectivity plan will allow Ctrip users to have their reservations confirmed and delivered within seconds to Jumeirah hotels. Ctrip and Jumeirah also plan to launch a set of special offers and contests once the direct connect technology is in place.

Owing to greater marketing efforts in general and new digital initiatives in particular, Jumeirah expects to see a 14 percent in Chinese guests at its properties worldwide next year, especially at its one-year-old Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel in Shanghai. Currently, China is the sixth most important source market for Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts globally, with the most popular destinations for Chinese travelers being Dubai and the Maldives. In response to rising business and domestic travel within China, Jumeirah has five Chinese hotel projects in development, among them Jumeirah Guangzhou (opening in late 2014); Jumeirah Macau; Jumeirah Clearwater Bay Resort in Sanya, Hainan island; Jumeirah Hangzhou; and Jumeirah Thousand Island Lake Resort, Qiandaohu.

Jumeirah's Burj al Arab illuminated its famous "sail" for the Chinese Year of the Dragon

Amid a large, albeit extremely crowded and contentious, hotel market in China — which still struggles with low occupancy rates and the growing pains of a still-young luxury segment — Jumeirah's latest deal with Ctrip is the group's latest attempt to develop a stronger local foothold and understand what makes Chinese travelers tick. Angling to broaden its appeal to the market, Jumeirah was one of the first hoteliers to launch a website in simplified Chinese characters, and has been quite active on Chinese social media platforms. Earlier this year, the group appointed experienced Asia hand Graham Kiy to the position of GM of Jumeirah Guangzhou, later expanding its sales presence in the region by partnering with Heavens Portfolio as Sales and Marketing representative in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and appointing a new Business Development Manager in Beijing.

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How-To Make Kimchi in 3 Minutes

William Cho (Discover Korea (Travel and Culture and Sports and Hiking) on FaceBook) invited us out to his flat, where a few others to learn his secret to making kimchi joined us. Most don't take the time to make kimchi because they believe it to be a hard process. William makes it easy! What you need: *NOTE* This is for one head of cabbage. 1 head of Chinese cabbage 1 Korean radish 1 cup red pepper ½ cup sugar ½ cup salt (fine grain) 10 cloves peeled garlic 3 nodules peeled ginger Lots of coarse grain salt Gloves The process of making kimchi will take a whole day, but it's so much fun! Here's how you do it the fun (and easy) William Cho way. 1) Peel off your leafy, outer cabbage leaves. These make for bad kimchi. Once you get the good stuff, cut off the stem of the cabbage. Finally, quarter the cabbage and place it into a large container. 2) With the coarse salt, make a saltwater solution with warm water. You'll want to use a lot of salt and dissolve it completely. Pour this mixture over the cabbage. Do this until the cabbage is about 40-50% is submerged. Let sit for 4-6 hours. Now's a good time to watch a movie, play some games, or just sleep. 3) Pull the cabbage out of the saltwater and rinse and scrub the leaves to make sure they're clean and free of any pesticides. Once the cabbage is clean, chop it up into what ever size you want. (The traditional Korean method doesn't do this, but William thinks it's easier to manage and I agree.) 4) Cut the Korean radish into ...

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