China-based tour company partners with local company

U-Top Investment Group chair Yan Lin, left, and project director Stonic Chu, second from left, talk with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and other officials Monday evening. (Contributed Photo)

Over 50 government officials, tour agents, and representatives of Marianas Visitors Authority, the Hotel Association of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce gathered last Monday evening to listen to a presentation led by U-Top Investment (Saipan), Inc. 

U-Top Investment is a joint venture of both China-based U-Tour Group Co., Ltd. and CNMI-based Top Development Inc.

Also in attendance was Gov. Ralph DLG Torres who said “it is important that we not just support this, but endorse it as well.” He expressed his appreciation to U-Top for investing in the CNMI.

Founded on Aug. 11, 1992, in Beijing, China, U-Tour Group Co., Ltd. has been at the forefront of overseas travel and tourism in China for over 20 years, helping millions of customers to travel the world. Ranking in the top 20 of the National Tourism Group, third in the top 100 travel agencies in China and among the top three tax and travel agencies in China, U-Tour Group Co., Ltd. was selected as the designated travel agency for the National Tourism Administration Bureau in 2014.

That same year, the company was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and became the first privately listed travel company on the A-share market. It has branches in Shanghai, Hebei, Chengdu, Shenyang, Harbin, Xi’an, Wuhan, Xiamen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Kunming, Qingdao and other places in China.

As a leading non-state-owned, fully integrated travel, tourism and cross-border service conglomerate in China employing 4,000 staff nationwide with a total of 29 wholly-owned subsidiaries, the company has turned its sights to the CNMI.

To ensure that the firm makes smart investments in the CNMI, it has partnered with Top Development Inc., which has been operating on Saipan for nearly 25 years, and has worked to develop the China-based charter-flight-market segment.

Most recently, TDI partnered with agents to launch the Hangzhou-Saipan charter flights operated by Beijing Capital Airlines, providing 500 flight seats weekly to the CNMI.

With a strong international presence and CNMI-based network and infrastructure offering air service, ground transportation, tour packages, and a host of other peripheral services and products, U-Top Investment (Saipan). Inc. has made it clear that it wants to be a part of the CNMI’s success story and her continued growth.

“Controlled growth is important as well…Tourism development and conservation can be combined,” said U-Top Investment Group chair Yan Lin and project director Stonic Chu.

U-Top Investment (Saipan), Inc. was established with the goal of catering to quality tourists while respecting the natural habitat of the CNMI. “We want to achieve sustainable tourism in the CNMI. We also want tourists to appreciate the people, culture and beauty of the islands. We have to protect the environment at all costs. People come here for those experiences,” adds Chu. (PR)