Ctrip CEO Jane Sun: Ctrip Focusing on International Expansion and Mid-to-High End Travelers
May 15 2019 - 10:33AM
Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (Nasdaq: CTRP)
("Ctrip"), Asia’s largest online travel agency and the second
largest in the world, recently laid out the next stage of
development for the leading travel group in an internal letter. Ms.
Sun noted that Ctrip is entering the third stage of its strategic
development, characterized primarily by the expansion of operations
outside China and a focus on serving mid-to-high end travel
consumers.
Ms. Sun’s letter marked the announcement of a share
exchange transaction between Ctrip and Naspers, in which Ctrip will
become the largest shareholder of Indian online travel agency
MakeMyTrip post the transaction.
Ms. Sun described how Ctrip was founded 20 years
ago with the goal of revolutionizing online travel booking, and
entered its second stage of development six years ago as the
company adapted to the rise of mobile internet and expanded into a
one-stop-shop for travel services. The third stage of Ctrip’s
development, she wrote, would be to make Ctrip “a company based in
China but with a global vision.”
The MakeMyTrip transaction was hailed in Ms. Sun’s
letter as an important starting point within Ctrip’s third stage of
development. Ctrip’s confidence in the deal’s potential was based
on the company’s deep understanding of the global travel
industry.
Remarking on the deal, Ms. Sun said, “Of all the
major economies, India has the youngest population and the second
largest overall population. With the rise of the Indian middle
class and the rising penetration of traditional and mobile
internet, India’s tourism market has already become a key area of
focus for global Internet giants. Aided by these demographic trends
and the strong potential for internet startups in the Indian
market, MakeMyTrip has achieved impressive growth over the last few
years, with the platform’s gross merchandise volume sustaining a
growth rate of 43% in the past three years amid declining losses,
making it a very attractive investment for us.”
Ctrip’s financial results for the fourth quarter
2018 showed that the company’s international business accounts for
30-35% of Ctrip Group’s total revenue, with growth in international
hotel and air ticket bookings equivalent to three times the
industry average. Ctrip’s UK-based subsidiary Skyscanner has also
continued its rapid expansion, with revenue from flights booked
directly on its platform increasing more than 200% in the fourth
quarter of last year, as Ctrip’s international brand Trip.com
achieved triple-digit growth in its air ticketing business for nine
quarters in a row. The company’s annual GMV is now over 725 billion
RMB, larger than global players Booking.com and Expedia.
Ctrip has recently launched a raft of localized
initiatives to meet the unique demands of consumers in its home
market. Within the last year alone, Ctrip has launched TrainPal, an
app for buying train tickets in the UK; opened overseas call
centers in Edinburgh, Seoul and Tokyo to improve local service
capabilities; and its subsidiary Ctrip Finance partnered with
Standard Chartered to launch a virtual bank in Hong Kong. In
addition, Ctrip’s international brand Trip.com is now a common
sight at tourism fairs across the globe and Ctrip’s train ticketing
services have recently been made available to Japanese
consumers.
Consolidating a strong position in
mid-to-high end travel offerings through international
partnerships
In March Ctrip launched a series of high-end
customized travel products, covering more than 80 countries and
regions, including destinations in Europe, the Americas, Oceania,
the Middle East and Antarctica. High end customized travel packages
aim to provide high net worth individuals with the ultimate
overseas travel experience, in manner tailored specifically to the
tastes of discerning clients, with impeccable service quality.
Ctrip’s data shows that since the official launch
of Ctrip’s customized travel platform in 2016, demand for these
services has increased at a three-digit rate for three consecutive
years. CEO Ms. Jane Sun recently gave an example of the popularity
of these highly tailored packages in an interview with Fox News,
stating, “The most expensive tour we’ve sold costs about $200,000
per person per trip, and it only took us about 17 seconds to sell
these packages. That gives you an idea of how exclusive consumers
can go when it comes to choosing their package.”
Ctrip has continued to expand its market share in
the mid to high-end hotel market, a segment in which the company is
growing at twice the rate of the industry average. This growth has
been driven in part by the close partnerships forged by Ctrip with
leading luxury hotel brands including Club Med, Aman, Rosewood,
Shangri-La, Millennium, the Centara Hotel Group in Thailand, the
Melia Hotel Group in Spain, the Magnuson Hotel Group in the US, as
well as Accor, Hyatt and Radisson Hotels.
About Ctrip.com International,
Ltd.
Ctrip.com International, Ltd. is a leading
travel service provider of accommodation reservation,
transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel
management in China. It is the largest online consolidator of
accommodations and transportation tickets in China in terms of
transaction volume. Ctrip enables business and leisure travelers to
make informed and cost-effective bookings by aggregating
comprehensive travel related information and offering its services
through an advanced transaction and service platform consisting of
its mobile apps, Internet websites and centralized, toll-free,
24-hour customer service center. Ctrip also helps customers book
vacation packages and guided tours. In addition, through its
corporate travel management services, Ctrip helps corporate clients
effectively manage their travel requirements. Since its inception
in 1999, Ctrip has experienced substantial growth and become one of
the best-known travel brands in China.
For further information, please
contact:
International PRCtrip.com International,
ltd.Email: Pr@ctrip.com
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