TripAdvisor and Trip.com to Provide Outbound Chinese Traveller Platform

Stuart Jay Raj -

Two of the world’s largest travel companies build China’s top travel planning and booking site, custom-built for Chinese travellers eager to experience the world.

Through this strategic partnership, Trip.com Group and TripAdvisor -- two of the world’s largest travel companies – will marry their assets into a joint venture (majority owned by Trip.com Group) to expand TripAdvisor’s business in China. Trip.com Group will be the majority shareholder of the new joint venture entity and will contribute cash and market expertise. TripAdvisor will own 40% of the joint venture and will contribute a long-term exclusive brand and content license and other assets of its China business. Both companies have agreed to share inventories in travel categories at the joint venture level. The joint venture will operate globally as TripAdvisor China.

China has become one of the largest and fastest growing outbound travel markets in the world surpassing the U.S. in volume. In just under 20 years, the number of overseas trips Chinese travellers have taken has increased a staggering 1,326%, to nearly 150 million overseas trips in 2018.

“China is an attractive market given the opportunity and demand of outbound travellers. While China can be a challenging market for a non-China based company to try to appeal to those travellers, I’m very proud of the accomplishments and inroads our TripAdvisor China team has made through the years. Our joint venture with Trip.com Group represents an exciting next chapter that enables us to build a world-class China platform serving the needs of the outbound Chinese travellers,” said Gary Fritz, president of TripAdvisor APAC.

“Trip.com Group, with its established travel market leadership in mainland China, is the perfect match for what we are trying to accomplish. I have no doubt that this partnership is the right move and that together we will establish a stronger TripAdvisor China, helping to further TripAdvisor’s position as a global travel leader.”