Octopus Online Tourism (OOT) signed strategic cooperation agreement with Tempus Group Co., Ltd. and China Securities Co., Ltd. recently, which will officially initiate a series of "tourism+internet+finance" resource integration after OOT's series B financing.

This cooperation initiative means that OOT will, as a pioneer in the B2B tourism sector, set the criteria and standards for the industry which will give confidence to more tourism suppliers and distributors in their efforts to get out of difficulties.

OOT was initially a traditional travel service in Suzhou and with the emergence of e-commerce, it tried to set up its own tourism distribution system in 2008.

"Octopus Online Tourism Comprehensive Distribution Platform" is a new business model for tourism through the combination of internet technology and tourism products, realizing the innovative application of e-commerce in the travel service industry.

Depending on capital and policy support, OOT is now marching into B2B tourism market under the "internet+" strategy, setting an example for and pushing forward the improvement of the standardization and informatization of smart tourism and the supply-front reform of tourism industry. 

The past year has seen a number of B2B tourism platforms face capital chain rupture, go bankrupt or run away. Confronted with the predicament, OOT recently proposed the reshaping of B2B tourism ecosphere, and made the unprecedented "Today+1" advance payment commitment to its member suppliers, which means that upstream suppliers can get payment one day after the package tour is carried out.

"This is meant to prevent platform runaway and reassure our suppliers." Yuan Dong, founder and chairman of OOT, said that as the leader in B2B tourism, OOT felt duty-bound to promote and create a healthy and sound environment for industry development.

Boasting a 3,000 sqm modernized operation headquarters in SIP, 11 branch companies and over 80 city stations across the country, OOT has led the way in the offline-to-online transformation in the B2B tourism sector.