Trip.com CEO See Tailwinds for China Tourism

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Sherry Qin, The Wall Street Journal 3 min Read 19 Jun 2025, 01:31 IST International Business was a highlight for Trip.com in the first quarter, with bookings with 60%, promoting the overall turnover. Photo: Ore Huiying/Bloomberg News Summary, CEO, Jane Sun, expects Trip.com to retain its leading market share in China, predicting that growth in the domestic affairs will exceed the average of the industry. China’s plan to increase services is good for Trip.com Group, his CEO said, and bet that travel revenue will receive a upliftment despite continuing consumer truth. In the past year, Chinese officials have relaxed visa rules for foreign visitors and subsidies for consumers and in search of new drivers of economic growth. This is welcome news for Trip.com. The online travel giant expects to take advantage of the resulting upswing of the trip, CEO Jane Sun said. Sun, who has led the company since 2016, told The Wall Street Journal. China’s largest online travel agency according to traffic volume enjoyed a windfall during the travel boom that followed the country’s upliftment of strict pandemic restrictions. Last year, its net profit increased by 73%and the Hong Kong-listed shares rose by about 95%. As revenue growth normalizes, the company plans to achieve growth of both domestic and international markets. It sees a significant wind wind in Beijing’s efforts to increase consumption. The push, which initially focused on goods, expanded to targets, including tourism. Recent data indicates that efforts are paying off. During China’s Labor Day holiday in May, spending of domestic tourism increased by 8% compared to a year earlier. Incoming tourism also has great potential, “Sun said, helped by alleviating the requirements of visa and a new visitors tax recovery program. Tourist arrivals contribute much less to China’s economy than in other major countries, according to statistics. Sun said the turnover from foreign travel accounts for 2% to 3% of the annual gross domestic product of the US, the world’s largest economy. “If we can at least reach where the US is, it’s a trillion dollar industry,” she said. According to Chinese Minister of Negotiating, Sheng Qiuping, incoming tourism accounted for about 0.5% of China’s GDP in 2024. Chinese policymakers have been seeking a larger part of international travel traffic for years. This has led to more open borders, with tourists from more than 50 countries now that can enter without a visa. In 2024, 64.9 million foreigners visited China, with 20 million of them entering visa-free, according to data from the national immigration administration. The number must still return to pre -landemic levels. Sun expects Trip.com’s incoming travel revenue to be more than double this year. International business was a highlight for Trip.com in the first quarter, with bookings with 60%, promoting overall revenue. Sun said that higher costs for brands and the acquisition of users were weighed on the margins, but it is ‘part of the process’. It takes 18 to 36 months to develop a new market, she said. Trip.com is also in the face at home. Even with government incentives to promote employment consumption – including $ 500 million for tourism and other services in Shanghai alone – the economic misery Chinese households kept careful about expenses. The doubt continues with the sustainability of the subsidy-driven boost. In the first quarter, China’s daily hotel prices dropped from the previous year as more lower hotels entered the market, which emphasizes the trend of the heer, in which consumers switch to cheaper services of more expensive. And despite a strong overall spending during the Labor Day holidays, domestic spending on a trip per person was still by about 10% lower than levels of 2019. However, Sun believes that if China’s GDP can continue to grow by 4% to 5%, tourism revenue can exceed it by a few percentage points. Stiffer -competing in the Chinese market doesn’t stop her either. Trip.com competes with people like Alibaba-backed Fight, Tongcheng and Meituan for China’s tourism dollars. The illuminating prospects of the industry have also attracted new opponents, such as Douyin, Tiktok’s sister app in China, and e-commerce giant JD.com. Sun expects Trip.com to maintain its leading market share in China and predicts that the growth of the home affairs will exceed the average of the industry. Newcomers can bring customers to their platforms, but they still need a developed discussion mechanism and travel support system, CEO said. “It’s very hard to do,” Sun says. Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com, catch all the corporate news and updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates and live business news. More Topics #china #Travel and Tourism Industry Read the following story