China’s ongoing lockdowns are weighing heavily on Trip.com’s business trip bookings.
For its second quarter results, corporate travel revenue was $31 million, which is a 46 percent decrease on the same period in 2021. It was also 5 percent lower than the previous quarter.
The company cited “continued disruptions resulting from the Covid-19 resurgence in China,” in its results, published this week.
Just weeks ago, Shenzhen, the country’s fourth biggest city, went into lockdown.
China’s zero Covid stance is impacting other corporate travel agencies, including American Express Global Business Travel. “China used to represent 5 percent of sales for international travel. That market is still potentially at zero today. When it opens up, that’s 5 percent,” said CEO Paul Abbott last month.
China’s subdued international airline market was also one of the reasons global international traffic remains down by nearly a third versus 2019, according to Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association.
In June, Trip.com said it would target “lower tier” cities across China in a bid to grow its share of the corporate travel market.