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Ctrip: China’s Online Travel Platform – Local Giant or Global Competitor?

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  • Shao, Tianyi
  • Kenney, Martin

Abstract

In a large number of sectors, Chinese internet platform firms have grown to enormous size leveraging a rapidly growing, largely protected domestic market This paper describes the formation and growth of the largest Chinese travel and tourism platform, Ctrip within the context to the changing Chinese economy. In 2018, Ctrip was one of the largest travel platforms in the world and, though still significantly smaller than the US travel and tourism platforms that dominate most of the rest to the world, it was growing far faster than them. Ctrip’s remarkable success is explained within the context to the rising tide of Chinese tourism. The paper explores Ctrip’s recent globalization strategies suggesting that it intends to expand beyond just serving the Chinese market or Chinese tourists in global markets. At this point, the globalization strategy appears to have two prongs: The first prong has been using its enormous cash flow to acquire or co-invest in local firms that dominate other developing country markets that are expanding rapidly. The two cases in point are its equity investment in the Indian travel giant, MakeMyTrip, and investments in Southeast Asia. The second prong is investing or acquiring firms/websites in developed nation markets that can either service the enormous flow of Chinese tourists it controls or provide services to Western travelers. For these investments, Ctrip can provide infrastructural and capital support to allow these operations to expand more quickly. It is uncertain how successful Ctrip’s initiatives in international markets will be. However, given that Chinese tourism is likely to continue its rapid growth and that Ctrip monopolizes this market, it has significant financial resources, enormous leverage in directing this flow of tourists for strategic advantage, and a rapidly developing capability in analyzing the enormous inflow of data that it receives. For the reasons we describe, Ctrip is likely to be an increasingly formidable competitor to the US global travel and tourism platform giants, Expedia, Priceline, and TripAdvisor.

Suggested Citation

  • Shao, Tianyi & Kenney, Martin, 2018. "Ctrip: China’s Online Travel Platform – Local Giant or Global Competitor?," ETLA Working Papers 58, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
  • Handle: RePEc:rif:wpaper:58
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    Cited by:

    1. Duan, Liaoliao & Sun, Weizeng & Zheng, Siqi, 2020. "Transportation network and venture capital mobility: An analysis of air travel and high-speed rail in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Juan Erasmo Gomez-Morantes & Richard Heeks & Richard Duncombe, 2022. "Conceptualising Digital Platforms in Developing Countries as Socio-Technical Transitions: A Multi-level Perspective Analysis of EasyTaxi in Colombia," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 978-1002, April.
    3. Jia, Kai & Kenney, Martin & Mattila, Juri & Seppälä, Timo, 2018. "The Application of Artificial Intelligence at Chinese Digital Platform Giants: Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent," ETLA Reports 81, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.

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