From left to right: Bo Sun, CMO of Trip.com Group, Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Lau Wai Meng, President of Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, Cheng Wai Tong, Deputy Directors of the Macao Government Tourism Office
Trip.com Group, a leading global travel service provider, held its 2021 Global Partner Summit in Macao today. With the theme of “Forward Together,” the summit was attended by over 1,600 professionals representing every sector of the travel industry. Trip.com Group and partners gathered together at events throughout the day to share insights on the development of the industry and look ahead to the future of travel.
At the Summit, Trip.com Group Chairman and Co-founder James Liang outlined how he views the progression of the international travel recovery and reinforced the Group’s continuous efforts to foster industry efforts geared toward recovery. Liang believes that as global vaccination rates continue to rise, and more countries and regions are opening their borders, international travel will return in the near future.
“This year, we have continued to work with destinations and partners around the world in preparation for the restoration of global travel,” said Liang at the Summit. “The industry as a whole is ready to welcome and facilitate global travelers, we are the forefront together with partners to support the complete resumption of global travel.”
Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, shared Trip.com Group’s performance results from the past year and commented that despite the challenges faced by the travel industry, the Group continues to see growth across its major business units. Sun shared that both domestic hotel bookings and air ticket bookings in mainland China saw double-digit growth in Q2 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. Whilst on Trip.com, a sub-brand of Trip.com Group, global domestic hotel bookings increased by over 160% in Q3 2021 compared to Q3 2019. Cross-border air ticket bookings in Europe also saw an increase of 200% in Q3 2021 compared to the previous quarter.
Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, delivering her keynote presentation to partners at the Global Partner Summit
This is the second year that Macao tourism authorities and Trip.com Group have entered into official collaboration. In 2021, the two parties’ partnership saw Macao travel bookings on Trip.com Group platforms increase by 244% in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. The number of travelers to Macao saw a 150% QoQ increase, and “Macao” keyword searches grew by 216% YoY.
Trip.com Group’s content marketing strategy is one of the major drivers behind this strong performance. Since the onset of the pandemic, Trip.com Group has rolled out innovative plans and products to boost its content marketing ecosystem. Trip.com Group now has 200 million users who engage with travel content on its Ctrip sub-brand platform, of which up to 30% make a booking within a month after accessing platform content.
Livestreaming, a key pillar in Trip.com Group’s content marketing ecosystem, continues to drive bookings. Since Ctrip developed dedicated livestreaming channels on its platform, bookings generated from livestreams increased nearly 15 times in Q3 2021 compared to the previous quarter. “Our content marketing strategy is an engine that engages users and inspires pent-up travel demand that in turn increases bookings,” said Bo Sun, CMO of Trip.com Group. “Looking to the future, we will further invest in innovative marketing initiatives to empower our partners and boost travel recovery.”
