US tourism site for overseas Chinese gets $20M investment from Tencent

Woqu, an online travel agency for Chinese looking to make a trip to the US, has secured a US$20 million series B round of funding led by Tencent, according to QQ Tech. Morningside Capital also participated in the round.

Woqu acts as a one-stop shop for everything a Chinese citizen needs to travel to the US. Most of its offerings are for tours and attractions in the northeast region of the US, whether customers are visiting Hawaii, New York City, Alaska or California. Hikes, helicopter tours, show tickets, gourmet tours and much more are all on offer. This narrow approach gives the site a deeper variety of options.

Woqu also helps Chinese citizens obtain US tourism visas, rent cars, get prepaid SIM cards, book hotels, and buy insurance. Everything comes with a low price guarantee and a service hotline is available 24/7.

The site was founded in October last year but wasn’t officially launched until April this year.

Rather than attempt to create another travel agency with bookings all over the world, Woqu has chosen a more narrow market segment – the United States – to offer a richer and more comprehensive variety of options. This targeted approach can help it compete with industry leaders like Tuniu, 17u, Ctrip, and Shijiebang. The startup didn’t rule out the option of expanding to more countries, though.

The number of Chinese who visit the US is growing rapidly, from 1.4 million in 2012 to 1.8 million in 2013. That number is projected to rise to 2 million this year.

See: International tourism: China’s next multibillion-dollar ecommerce industry