Business travel is booming for Chinese online travel agency Trip.com, according to its third-quarter results.
The predominantly leisure-focused OTA recorded US$47 million in corporate travel revenue for the third quarter of 2019, which is an increase of 26 per cent compared with the same period in 2018, and 9 per cent up from the second quarter this year.
The OTA rebranded to Trip.com Group Limited from Ctrip at the end of last month, and said the business travel boost was driven by "expansion in its corporate customer base and an optimised product mix trend".
As well as corporate travel management, Trip.com provides accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and in-destination services, among other travel-related services
The group's international businesses (excluding Greater China destinations) also saw significant growth. The year-on-year revenue growth rate of its international hotel business reached 50 per cent in the third quarter of 2019, while international air ticketing volume maintained triple-digit growth for the 12th consecutive quarter.
Its brands include Trip.com, Ctrip and Skyscanner, and last year it partnered with London-based on-demand mobility firm Splyt to give users access to global ride-hailing inventory.
The company, which was founded in 1999, isn't the only OTA to have business travel in its sights. Earlier this month, Kayak announced it was planning to launch "Kayak for Business". Kayak claims the platform will not need a subscription and will have no hidden fees or service charges.
Meanwhile, Booking.com for Business is continuing to forge partnerships in the sector, most recently with corporate travel platform Serko.
trip.com