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The Online Travel Industry: China's Winning There Too

September 29, 2008 at 11:30 AM | 0 Comments

Let's face it. If the spectacle of the Beijing Olympics taught us anything, it's that when it comes scary superpowers, China totally kicks the United States' weary butt these days.

This emerging dominance extends to the travel industry--as we've heard before. A recent Forbes article profiles Ctrip, a China-owned booking site that modeled itself after Expedia. Since it's growing much faster than its American counterpart these days, it looks like Expedia might soon be modeling itself after Ctrip.

The Chinese site tried once, back in 2001, to enter the business travel market, but backed out because of competition with American Express and Expedia-owned Chinese travel site, Elong. Now, it's preparing to reenter the market, CEO Min Fan says. Further, it started adding more land travel options like limo service, along with customized travel packages that it promotes from kiosks in China's airports.

Related Stories:
· Ctrip [Official Site]
· Taking Off [Forbes]
· China Travel coverage [Jaunted]