Roundup

CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

Hospitality group Accor and internet giant Alibaba have launched a campaign to celebrate the Accor Live Limitless lifestyle loyalty program to encourage people to "discover limitless experiences". The event, which started on Tuesday and will last until May 7, is being held across a variety of channels. These include Accor, Alibaba's popular online travel platform Fliggy, and other Alibaba-affiliated brands and apps. A series of promotions will be rolled out, such as a special price for a suite with executive club lounge benefits at Accor's luxury and top-tier brands, spa packages and buffet upgrades.

RAILWAY JOURNEYS

China's railway traffic picked up over the past weekend's Tomb Sweeping Day holiday. It came as the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to ease, the latest data from the China State Railway Group showed. Total train trips nationwide hit 11.36 million during the three-day holiday. Monday registered 4.13 million, a daily record high since the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday ended in early February, according to the data. The Tomb Sweeping Day holiday saw an average 260 more trains running each day as the country continued to ensure safe and smooth travel while preventing the spread of the virus.

TABLE MANNERS

Facing the novel coronavirus outbreak, China's catering businesses have been asked to provide serving spoons and chopsticks for diners in an effort to promote healthier table manners among the public. A proposal made by the China Hospitality Association asked catering companies to add serving spoons and chopsticks to tables where people sit together and share dishes. Or they could serve separate dishes to customers in order to stem the transmission of diseases.

MOBILE SERVICE

Peninsula Hotels is launching its instant messaging service PenChat worldwide. Its properties in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are the first beneficiaries starting on Thursday. As a 24-hour concierge service, PenChat enables hotel guests to receive tailor-made services based on their personal preferences, which includes dining, spa and local cultural tours. It can be accessed by scanning a QR code or via a link contained in a booking confirmation email from a Peninsula hotel.

WUXING ATTRACTIONS

A cultural tourism promotion conference about Xisai Mountain Resort in Wuxing district of Huzhou, Zhejiang province, was held in Shanghai in March. Scores of industrial insiders from the two neighboring cities were attracted to the event. The resort is aimed at becoming a national-level leisure and cultural tourism destination, local officials said. Miaoxi town, as a core part of the resort, received 1.18 million visits in 2019, an increase of 23.6 percent from a year earlier, bringing in 266 million yuan ($37.79 million) in local tourism revenue. Other attractions at the resort include Yunxiang town, which cost 5.76 billion yuan and features a butterfly research and sightseeing base; 67 hectares of plum blossom and rural life experiences; a giraffe zoo; a bird-watching wetland park; bamboo forests and an international camping site.

Xinhua - China Daily