Hotel and airfare bookings reach record high in Q2, Trip says
People crowd a Shanghai railway station ahead of a May Day holiday in this file photo.
China's biggest tourism platform Trip.com Group reported a 180 percent growth of revenue and record-high hotel and airfare bookings in the second quarter, thanks to strongly rebounded travel demand, the Nasdaq-listed company said on Tuesday.
Main indexes, covering accommodation and air ticket income, have surpassed the pre-COVID level for the same period in 2019, representing full recovery of the tourism industry.
In the second quarter, Trip's revenue reached 11.2 billion yuan (US$1.53 billion), a 29 percent increase compared with the pre-COVID level for the same period in 2019. Net profit reached 648 million yuan, compared with 43 million yuan a year earlier.
"The demand for both domestic and international travel remained resilient," James Liang, executive chairman of Trip, said in a statement. "Despite limited air capacity recovery, the robust rebound of travel activities reflects travelers' strong desire to explore the world."
Resumed air routes connecting China and the rest of the world and improved policies would continue to stimulate the market, experts said.
Since August 30, travelers to China have been exempted from submitting nucleic acid or antigen COVID-19 test results within 48 hours when declaring their health status to Chinese customs.
In the first half of 2023, China's travel service trade surged by a notable 65.4 percent year-on-year to 650.94 billion yuan, positioning it amongst the country's fastest-growing segments in the service trade domain. Furthermore, Chinese tourists have been instrumental in rejuvenating international tourism, thereby catalyzing global trade and the economic rebound, experts told the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development 2023, held recently in Beijing.
As Trip's results spotlights, domestic hotel bookings grew by 170 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, and by more than 60 percent compared to the pre-COVID level.
Outbound hotel and air reservations recovered to over 60 percent of their pre-COVID level for the same period in 2019.
