Ying Hai targets mainland services expansion via Zhuhai travel agency acquisition

Local tourism company Ying Hai Group Holdings has announced it reached an agreement to acquire Zhuhai Huanya International Tourism Co., Ltd. for some RMB800,000 (MOP999,753/US$125,102) in an attempt to expand its sales network in Mainland China.

Established in 2014 and focused on tourism services, entertainment, and cultural and creative products, Ying Hai is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, Zhuhai Huanya businesses cover travel business and selling air tickets, with the company holding a travel agency permit and accredited as a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

‘The Group strategically targets to strengthen our established market position in Macau’s tourism industry, to bring desirable profit and investment returns to the shareholders and promote sustainable development in the future,’ CEO, Choi Wan Chan, says in the announcement.

‘The acquisition will not only expand the Macau tourism industry into Mainland China, but also enable the group to exploit other opportunities to generate synergies in the sales of hotel rooms and car rentals’.

Still, Ying Hai noted that as with many travel companies its business significantly undermined by the Covid-19 pandemic, a shock expected to continue in the near future.

Ying Hai considered it is to be in the interest of the company and its shareholders to diversify its business and look for new business opportunities, and that since the entry restrictions between Macau and PRC have become less stringent, it can be reasonably expected that the PRC tourists will gradually resume their travel to Macau.

Therefore acquiring the Zhuhai tourism company was said to be a way to help the group facilitate its cooperation with other PRC tourism companies, hotels and expand its tourism business in the PRC market in the long run.