Trip.com’s CEO sees pivot to private tours in mainland China offsetting plummet in international travel
- Trip.com Group raised US$1.1 billion from a secondary listing in Hong Kong; shares open up 4.9 per cent above offer price of HK$268 each
- Travel agency is now in the “profit zone” says CEO; private-tour bookings for May 1 to 5 holiday have jumped 533 per cent from a year earlier.
China’s largest online travel agency Trip.com Group is banking on private group tours to help it ride out the dramatic plunge in international travel after raising US$1.1 billion from a secondary listing in Hong Kong.
Trip.com’s chief executive Jane Sun Jie told the South China Morning Post that customised services are buffering the mainland’s largest online travel agency against a decline in the number of journeys.
“Consumers prefer to travel with much smaller groups, with their families and close friends,” she said. “So we offer them customised services and use it as a tool (to boost company performance).”
Nasdaq-listed Trip.com, operates travel booking sites including Ctrip.com, Skyscanner and Qunar. It floated 31.6 million shares on Hong Kong’s stock market at HK$268 (US$34.49) each, a 5.5 per cent discount to its closing price of US$36.51 on Friday.
02:08
Trip.com CEO positive about travel industry outlook ahead of Hong Kong listing
On its trading debut in Hong Kong on Monday, Trip.com opened at HK$281, up 4.9 per cent.
