China’s largest online outbound travel agent is opening its first brick and mortar store in the Southern Hemisphere.
Qyer will open a ‘Q-Home’ in Queenstown to target Chinese travellers with in-destination personalised services and activities.
It will also serve as a resource for Queenstown’s tourism operators to market to the Chinese market and to educate themselves about Chinese culture and customer behaviour.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Graham Budd signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Qyer in Beijing this week.
"Not only is this deal important for Qyer’s customers coming to Queenstown who will now have a place to go to make travel arrangements with the company, DQ will now have direct access to Chinese travellers who are considering a visit to Queenstown through Qyer’s website and services," Budd said.
"As a year-round destination, our motivations are to encourage growth in travel outside of peak times—this relationship with Qyer will enable us to promote autumn and spring to Chinese travellers."
Qyer will become a Destination Queenstown member when the shop opens.
China is Queenstown’s second biggest international source market and the top long haul market.
Qyer was established in 2004 and boasts 80 million registered users.
It has Q-Home stores in the major inbound markets of Chiang Mai, Thailand and Kyoto, Japan.
