How TUI and Rezdy Fit Into Ctrip’s Growth Strategy Outside China
Photo Credit: Chinese tourists traveling farther afield. Clem Onojeghuo, Unsplash / Clem Onojeghuo
Skift Take
China slowdown? Meituan rivalry? Naaah, Ctrip had a fab 2018. Domestic travel remains strong, but it is international travel growth that’s exciting. Now we know what drives its latest partnerships with TUI’s Musement and Rezdy.
Ctrip's two new partnerships, one with TUI Group’s Musement and the other with Rezdy, announced Monday, underscore the Chinese online travel giant’s strategy to strengthen its fast growing international business.
This business includes Chinese overseas travel and its global brands outside China, Skyscanner and Trip.com. It accounts for a third of the group’s net revenue of $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Despite China’s economic slowdown and the Sino-US trade tensions, the group’s net revenue in the fourth quarter rose 22 per cent over the same period in 2017. Ctrip ended the full year 2018 on a high, with net revenue rising 16 percent to $4.5 billion over 2017.
Ctrip Chief Financial Officer Cindy Wang said on an earnings call Tuesday the international business “definitely gives us a very strong trajectory for future growth,” and Ctrip intends to invest further in it. This does, however, not mean it will give short shrift to the domestic business, w
