Articles tagged “ctrip”

The Priceline Group is moving much closer to Ctrip with a minority stake and CEO Darren Huston points to a series of additional moves in China in the next few years. Ctrip, though, hasn't always played well with other partners so it remains to be seen whether familial relations between these new second cousins will be long-standing.

Profitability isn't a concern right now as Expedia's eLong invests in expanding its hotel business, and it is in the game for the long haul.

Qunar is already partnered up with the Google of China, Baidu, and will differentiate itself from Expedia's eLong and the Priceline-Ctrip partnership by eschewing investment from a foreign online travel agency -- for now, at least.

This deal has huge implications despite the fact that the Priceline Group gets only a 10% piece of Ctrip. Priceline is playing its China card with the leading travel-booking site in China, and Baidu-affiliated Qunar and Expedia's eLong get weakened in the process.

Qunar is a technology company with a big vision and an enormous opportunity as the Chinese traveler busts out into the world. He won't say it outright, but it's clear that CEO CC Zhuang likes where he sits, and wouldn't want to stop the momentum with the complications that a merger with Ctrip would bring.

The data breach at Ctrip comes as Chinese travelers are rapidly discarding the call center option for online and mobile transactions. Such compromising of customers' credit card data undermines confidence in China's online booking market.

This script is getting very familiar. There is a helluva competition going on in China's online, mobile and call center travel businesses, and the biggest players (Ctrip, Qunar, eLong and now Taobao Travel) are coming to the U.S. to raise some big bucks, intensifying the competition.

Qunar has one helluva powerful partner in Baidu with its technology and big wallet.

Competition in the Chinese online travel market is intense these days, and eLong's transition into the highest tier on Nasdaq is just another signal that the business is maturing.

It is rare, if not unprecedented, for a major online travel agency such as Ctrip to invest in a supplier, in this case a large car-rental company. Rest assured this is not a passive investment; the two parties plan to take advantage of the relationship.