Trip Group banks on domestic travel recovery as virus challenges linger

Trip.com Group's revenue reached 56 percent of pre-pandemic levels in the first nine months, representing a domestic travel recovery in China in the face of COVID-19 challenges, the country's biggest travel agency said on Thursday.

The Nasdaq-listed company's total revenue in the first nine months reached 15.3 billion yuan (US$2.41 billion), or 56 percent of that in 2019, in line with domestic tourism industry figures.

In the third quarter, the Trip.com Group posted a net loss of 849 million yuan, and its revenue was 537 million yuan, down 2 percent year on year.

The Shanghai-based travel platform, whose business covers flights, hotels, car rentals and packaged tour reservations, remains confident of a market recovery.

"We are glad to see the world continues its transition toward normalcy, thanks to rapid vaccine rollouts and the easing of travel restrictions," said the company's executive chairman James Liang.

The company will continue to adopt a "dual circulation strategy" to focus on both the domestic and global travel markets, Liang added.

"Staycations" continue to be a major driver of the domestic travel recovery in China, with intra-province and local hotel reservations both growing rapidly compared with the pre-COVID period in 2019.

Trip's international flight reservations grew in the quarter, mainly driven by recovery in the European and US markets.

In the third quarter, China's tourism industry income was 2.37 trillion yuan, reaching 54.5 percent of the 2019 level, a rebound from the strict lockdown period, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

But COVID-19 and related lockdown measures continue to be challenges for the tourism industry, including Trip.com.

The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 69 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Thursday.