TONGCHENGTRAVEL (00780)s subsidiary, HopeGoo, officially integrates with Octopus Card. Tourists in Hong Kong can now book high-speed train tickets to mainland China.

While OTA platforms are making strong efforts in international business, TONGCHENGTRAVEL (00780)s international travel platform HopeGoo has officially connected to the Hong Kong Octopus APP recently, making it more convenient to meet the demand for foreign and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan tourists to book train tickets when traveling north. This year, both the convenient visa policies in Hong Kong and Macao and the 240-hour transit visa-free policy have stimulated the tourism industry in China and overseas markets. According to TONGCHENGTRAVEL's third-quarter financial report data for 2024, the daily average ticket volume for international flights reached a new high, with a year-on-year growth of over 160%, and the number of international hotel nights increased by nearly 140% year-on-year. Since WeChatHK and AlipayHK opened up to HopeGoo, the service has been used by over a million users. According to research by TONGCHENG's research institute, from October to December 2024, flight bookings from Hong Kong to mainland China increased by 68.3%, 37%, and 17.5% year-on-year, and flight bookings from mainland China to Hong Kong also increased by 53.7%, 29%, and 6.7% year-on-year. The tourism exchange between the two regions is showing a positive trend. The research institute attributed the decrease in tourist exchange in December to two main reasons: one is that Christmas in Hong Kong is close to the traditional Chinese New Year, both of which are public holidays in Hong Kong, causing tourists to choose destinations further away; the other is that mainland tourists tend to plan their trips around New Year's, so the frequency of tourist exchange in December did not increase significantly. Currently, WeChat HK and Alipay HK mini-programs have been integrated with HopeGoo, allowing Hong Kong tourists to purchase high-speed rail tickets, hotels, and scenic tickets on these two platforms. The integration with Octopus APP this time will focus on providing train ticket booking services for Hong Kong citizens traveling north. Through the Octopus APP, users can easily jump to HopeGoo and directly book train tickets to mainland China, enjoying a convenient one-stop travel booking experience. In addition, HopeGoo also supports payment in 16 currencies globally, and provides language operations in English and traditional Chinese to meet the needs of users from different countries. With deepening cooperation with Octopus, HopeGoo will in the future expand its coverage from flight tickets, hotels, and train tickets to booking for destination attractions, ferry tickets, and other 6 major scenarios. In Hong Kong, the number of Octopus cards currently exceeds 20 million, with a penetration rate of 98% in the region. Usage scenarios cover local public transportation, large chain stores, convenience stores, fast food restaurants, supermarkets, as well as new vending machines, payment kiosks, and self-service photography machines. In addition, most libraries in Hong Kong's tertiary institutions and some self-service copiers also accept Octopus payments. To meet the growing travel needs of Hong Kong tourists, HopeGoo officially launched the "Snake King's New Year's Departure and Spring Arrival Festival" promotion during the traditional Chinese New Year. During the promotion, HopeGoo will offer users generous travel benefits worth up to millions of Hong Kong dollars and additional up to HKD 699 train coupons for Octopus users, aiming to attract more users to pay attention to and use the HopeGoo platform. HopeGoo CEO Shen Wenjing stated that the official entry of HopeGoo into the Octopus APP and the launch of the Spring Festival promotion demonstrate TONGCHENGTRAVEL's focus on and investment in the Hong Kong market. Looking ahead, HopeGoo stated it will continue to collaborate with more local partners to continuously enrich and optimize its travel product booking services. The platform will gradually introduce cost-effective, diversified local and popular destination leisure products to meet the increasing travel needs of Hong Kong customers. Through this strategy, HopeGoo hopes to further consolidate its position in the Hong Kong tourism booking market and provide users with a more comprehensive and convenient one-stop travel booking service.