Jenny Chan 陳詠欣
Feb 28, 2012

Burson-Marsteller gets year-long retainer for Dragonair & Cathay Pacific

BEIJING - Burson-Marsteller has beaten six other agencies to retain the public relations business for sister airlines Cathay Pacific and Dragonair, which are looking to raise their profile in China to tap its lucrative outbound travel market.

Burson-Marsteller gets year-long retainer for Dragonair & Cathay Pacific

After a three-month competitive tender, Burson-Marsteller's media relations and crisis counsel services have been retained for Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific and its sister carrier Dragonair. In addition, the firm will provide Dragonair with corporate social responsibility support. The one-year retainer contract started earlier this month.

“As the Chinese market grows in size, the country’s fliers become increasingly discerning,” said Sam Swire, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair’s general manager in China, who wants to increase awareness of the two airline brands among outbound travellers.

Specifically, the duo is targeting Chinese international travellers—those who will fly first from the mainland to Hong Kong on Dragonair and then take another connecting flight abroad through Cathay's network.

When Cathay bought out its then-rival Dragonair for US$1.05 billion in 2006, its purpose was to expand its flight network on the mainland. Dragonair operates 17 routes between Hong Kong and  mainland cities Beijing, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Kunming, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Sanya, Shanghai, Wuhan and Xiamen. The Dalian and Tianjin routes are operated on a joint or code-sharing basis.

Cathay's rivals include Beijing-based Air China, Shanghai-based China Eastern and Guangzhou-based China Southern. 

“China’s travel industry is growing at an exponential rate,” Chris Deri, Burson-Marsteller China’s CEO, said. A combination of China’s fast-emerging middle class, improved transport links and favourable aviation policies are contributing to the boom of outbound travel.

The World Tourism Organisation has estimated that the total number of outbound tourists from China will reach 100 million by 2020. And by 2030, passenger numbers for Chinese carriers may increase to 1.5 billion, according to a projection from the country's Civil Aviation Administration. 

Burson-Marsteller will focus on engaging industry influencers, such as local journalists, from its five offices: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenzhen. 
Source:
Campaign China

Related Articles

Just Published

2 days ago

Creative Minds: Jereek Espiritu pushes his ideas to ...

An intervention by a computer repairman drove Jereek Espiritu away from a career flying helicopters to a world of creative leaps and flights of fancy.

2 days ago

UM launches Full Colour Media with a focus on ...

Full Colour Media is underpinned by a body of custom research conducted with more than 10,000 brands and with 5 million data points, culminating in a ‘Brand Patterns’ proprietary model designed to grow and differentiate brands.

2 days ago

Campaign Global Agency of the Year Awards 2024: ...

With the final entry deadline for Agency of the Year Global fast approaching, we speak to judges who share their views on the biggest opportunities and challenges for 2025, and what they hope to see in winning entries.

2 days ago

The 'laziest influencer' makes cleaning effortless—l...

S.C. Johnson's new mold-cleaning campaign features their least energetic spokesperson ever—a sloth whose main qualification is mastering the art of minimal effort.