Why do you need Ctrip (Trip.com) as your vacation rentals channel?
Chinese tourists will be the biggest source of tourists to other countries by 2030. To tap into this opportunity, property managers and hosts can list their properties on Trip.com (or people usually refer to it as Ctrip). Trip.com Group is the go-to online travel booking platform in China. Before Covid-19 hit, Trip.com Group had grown rapidly internationally. Even during the coronavirus period, Trip.com Group has not slowed down its expansion. It is now available in over 40 countries in their local languages. Trip.com (Ctrip English) English site has over 13 million visitors per month. This sales channel has both website and an app.
Is Trip.com (Ctrip) owned by Expedia?
Trip.com (Ctrip) is one of the largest Online Travel Agencies (OTA) in mainland China. Some people may wonder if Trip.com or Ctrip is owned by Expedia? Actually not. Trip.com major brands include Ctrip, Skyscanner, Trip.com, and Qunar. In 2019 the brands were rebranded under the purview of the parent company, Trip.com Group, which has the ambition to go global.
Is Trip.com the same as TripAdvisor?
Trip.com (or Ctrip) also has its review business, some people may also consider Trip.com the same as TripAdvisor. In fact, if you really want to make an analogy, then Trip.com in Asia is more like Booking.com in the western world.
Travellers can book not only accommodations but also flights, train tickets, car rentals and tours on the platform. It is also the go-to online travel booking platform in China.
Trip.com has more than 1.4 million hotels and vacation rentals from 200 countries serving more than 400 million guests.
According to Phocuswright, Ctrip almost had the same volume of gross bookings as Expedia and Booking. The huge booking numbers definitely make it one of the sales channels you should not simply ignore. It is particularly true if you have a plan to get more international bookings.
If you list your properties on Trip.com, your listings will also appear on Skyscanner and Ctrip. Now if you use Your.Rentals, you can easily connect to Trip.com, Ctrip and Skyscanner, diversifying your channel strategy.
Why Trip.com (or Ctrip)?
The robust growth of outbound tourism from China makes this OTA channel attractive. According to Statista, China is one of the growth engines in the global outbound tourism industry. Its number of outbound tourists has grown to nearly 155 million in 2019, almost three times more than 2010.
If we look at the numbers in accommodation booking (both hotel and alternative accommodations i.e. vacation rentals included), there were around 14.48 million arrivals from China and Hong Kong in tourist accommodations in the European Unions in 2018 and approximately 25.75 million nights were spent.
With the Chinese middle class becoming more affluent and most of them having travelling experience in Asia, their demand of travelling further away to the United States and Europe is increasing.
In addition, Chinese tourists spent about 254.6 billion U.S. dollars while traveling abroad in 2019. It’s definitely not a small number. According to Nielsen survey in 2017, Chinese tourists spent an average of USD 3,064 per person on their most recent overseas trip,
Simply put, there is a growing outbound travel need from Chinese travellers. We strongly believe after the latest wave of Covid, and when the governments have less restrictive measures on travel and more established system such as QR codes, vaccine passes are in place, the travel demand will come back.
The pent-up travel demand from Chinese and Asian travellers will mean an increased travel demand and higher booking value in the coming booking seasons. By leveraging Trip.com or Ctrip to capture the opportunity would be a wise decision to make if you want to expand your vacation rental business internationally. If you use Your.Rentals as your channel manager, then you only have to click Trip.com as one of your sales channels.
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Chinese travellers online booking behaviours
Guest origin country
According to Ctrip Founder, James Liang, Ctrip is very competitive in China and some Asian markets, while Europe and the U.S. are not their key focus yet. That said, the company has been expanding their overseas revenue to at least 20% in the next five years.
Property type
Based on our search on Trip.com in English and Ctrip.com in simplified Chinese, most of their properties are hotel accommodations.
However, according to a Nielsen’s survey in 2017, outbound Chinese tourists no longer only stayed in hotels, and started to choose homestays, inns and guest houses. It becomes more the case after Covid-19.
Therefore, listing your vacation rentals on Trip.com and Ctrip may also give you the first-mover advantage to capture the increasing demand for holiday homes.
Accommodation preference
Booking.com ran a survey in 2019 about Chinese travellers’ habits. That revealed the most desired accommodation features are:
- Cleanliness
- Safety
- Free wifi
Younger travellers (18-24 years) cared more about free wifi, while older guests (35-44 years) prioritised safety.
Popular destinations
Based on Statista’s figures in 2016, popular destinations for tourists from China were first the United Kingdom, then Italy, France, Germany and Spain in terms of nights spent. If you visit Trip.com website or app, now you will see the channel is available in more than 40 local languages including English, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Swedish, Danish, Finish.
The sales channel also highlights their payment options are easy to use and safe. It accepts credit and debit cards, and UnionPay in over 30 currencies.
Mobile experience
Phocuswright estimates by 2021, 46% of China’s overall travel bookings and 85% of those made online will be done on mobile platforms.
The mobile usage is even higher for Trip.com users because around 80% of its transactions are made from their mobile platforms nowadays. The Trip.com mobile app has been downloaded more than one billion times.
Instant bookings
Trip.com only accepts instant bookings. The established e-commerce and common use of smartphones in China probably can explain why instant and quick experience for Chinese consumers is essential.
Peak season
There are three main periods that Chinese travellers have a long holiday and like travelling abroad.
- Chinese New Year (usually in late Jan or Feb)
- Labour Day (1st May, usually along with the weekend)
- Golden Week (1st Oct, usually along with the weekend)
Summary
It will probably take time for tourism to fully recover after COVID. However, China is one of the countries which is already showing strong signs of a tourism rebound. With vaccines in place, travel restrictions among countries will begin to loosen. By connecting to Trip.com, property managers and hosts can tap into the strong outbound travel demand from Chinese tourists.
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