In a move that will ensure the presence and cross-promotion of its brands across different marketplaces, The Walt Disney Company, along with the Alibaba Group, last week announced a multi-year license agreement for a service that for the first time connects customers, physical products and digital entertainment. The new venture, DisneyLife, provides Alibaba customers in China with, a statement said, “an all-encompassing and immersive family friendly digital experience.” Alibaba is the largest online company in the world.

For a one-year subscription that costs $125, DisneyLife will make available its vast collection of Disney and Pixar’s movies, animation series, games, e-books, songs, travel services and Disney theme parks and resorts information.

Luke Kang, managing director, The Walt Disney Company, Greater China, said that “Disney and Alibaba share an ambition to exceed our audience’s expectations. DisneyLife directly connects us to China’s digital population and provides millions of kids and families the ability to explore and engage with Disney.”

More, Re: China Online: The country’s online tourism revenue will triple from the current level to account for 30 percent of the country’s total tourism market in three to five years on rising demand for tourism. At the recent World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen, Donald Yu, chief executive of online tourism website Tuniu, said in an interview that China’s online tourism market revenue is forecast to reach 1 trillion yuan ($154 billion) in three to five years, accounting for 30 percent of the total tourism market, triple the current 10 percent.

The results of a just-released survey indicate that the Chinese don’t plan to travel as much in the next year. The latest semi-annual travel survey (of 3,572 Chinese residents) by UBS said this: “The average number of trips (excluding to Hong Kong and Macau) planned for the next 12 months is 2.1 per survey respondent, down from 2.6 in our April survey,” according to analysts Eric Lin and Tiffany Chen. The investment bank seemed confident about the findings, adding, “the key [future] trends have generally been in line with our survey results.”

The survey projections come in the wake of a shakeout among the top travel agencies in China. Some analysts believe that online giant Ctrip brand has lost some of its power with the acquisition of 25 percent of the company by Baidu. Also, suggested an item in Barron’s Asia, “Ctrip has lost mind share” in both hotel and air ticket bookings, because of strong brand-building and promotions among its competitors. All major Chinese travel agencies conduct most of their transactions online.

Top Travel Agency Websites in China

 According to a recent report from Fung Business Intelligence Centre and China Luxury Advisors, China’s outbound traveler numbers are still growing—despite some recent indications that rate of growth of actual travel and bookings had decreased from the point it was a year ago—and are still likely to double by their numbers by 2020 to 234 million passengers (from 100 million-plus last year.)

More important to those focusing on the shopping, tourist Chinese visitor spending overseas is expected to jump to $229 billion, an increase of 23 percent over a year ago. And by 2020, their total overseas spending is expected to reach $422 billion, the report said.

Analysts at HSBC predict, however, that travel will not bounce back this year, and will not likely attract all the luxury shoppers who have held back. Still, when tourism to Hong Kong dropped, close to 60 percent of China’s outbound trips were to Hong Kong and Macau, according to HSBC. In the table below the U.S., a long-haul destination, compares favorably to any other long-haul destination.

For a list of countries and regions where travelers spend most, check out the chart below: