One of the world’s biggest Online Travel Agencies (OTA), headquartered in Shanghai, Trip.com Group, reveals that the domestic and international business continued to show robust recovery in 2Q23, with China’s domestic hotel bookings growing by 170 percent y-o-y and by over 60 percent compared to the same period in 2019.
At the same time, outbound hotel and air reservations already recovered to over 60 percent of the pre-COVID levels for the same period in 2019, surpassing the industry-wide recovery rate of 37 percent in terms of international air passenger volume for the same period.
Air ticket bookings on the online platform grew by over 120 percent year over year and nearly doubled compared to the pre-COVID level for the same period in 2019.
“During the 2Q23, the demand for both domestic and international travel remained resilient,” said James Liang, Executive Chairman. “Despite limited air capacity recovery, the robust rebound of travel activities reflects travelers’ strong desire to explore the world. We remain optimistic about the enduring demand for travel and the long-term market outlook,” he noted.
Trip.com’s performance in 2Q23 aligns with Macau’s tourism recovery, as Macau has surpassed Hong Kong to become the most popular travel destination among Chinese travelers in 2023.
Hong Kong and NASDAQ dual-listed company Trip.com Group released its 2Q23 results on Tuesday, noting that every segment of the group displayed vigorous recovery, reflecting the pent-up travel demand.
Accommodation reservation revenue stood at RMB4.3 billion ($591 million), marking a 216 percent increase yearly. Similarly, transportation ticketing and packaged-tour revenues also witnessed commendable growth, with the former raking in RMB4.8 billion ($664 million), up 173 percent year over year and the latter experiencing a mammoth 492 percent growth from last year. The corporate travel sector wasn’t left behind either, posting a 178 percent increase from the same period in 2022.
