Gang Chen, CEO of Qunar.com, announced at the company’s 2019 annual meeting that it registered 30% increase in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in 2018, and flight bookings increased 20% year-on-year. Hotel booking on Qunar.com achieved high growth rates again, with mid- and high-end hotels maintaining a growth rate of more than 30%. The train ticket business grew by 40% while packaged tours achieved three-digit growth.
Qunar.com has acquired a large number of top talents for the team, giving them a boost in confidence to take its GMV to RMB 250 billion (around USD 37 billion) in the next three years.
“Travelers today value and spend more on experience rather than travel itself. As youngsters in lower-tier cities are increasingly upwardly mobile, second-tier cities will become a new growth area for our travel business. Qunar.com is able to attract more travelers looking for greater value for money. We look forward to making great progress in the future, driven by our strategic advantages and the favorable environment,” said James Liang, Ctrip’s co-founder and executive chairman of the board.
Meanwhile, Gang Chen predicted that the travel industry and online penetration would maintain double-digit growth over the next five years.
