At the recent 2024 TravelDaily Conference, Trip.com Group chairman James Liang and TravelDaily CEO Chao Li discussed Trip.com’s strategy to stay competitive in the global tourism landscape.
China’s cultural and tourism ministry predicted that outbound travel this year will reach about 80% of 2019 levels. But when will it fully recover to pre-pandemic levels?
James Liang said that outbound travel should be segmented into long-haul and short-haul trips. Short-haul travel, such as trips to Japan and other Asian regions, has already surpassed 2019 levels in terms of Trip.com's transient traveler volume. In contrast, long-haul travel is still lagging significantly behind.
Expansion focus: Still Asia-centric
Will international markets such as North America, the Middle East, and South America become the main focus of Trip.com's international expansion?
James Liang explained that Trip.com's attention remains largely on Asia, as it is the most popular destination for Chinese travelers, and it will also prioritize inbound tourism from other Asian countries to China. Asia is already the world’s largest and most populous market. That said, Europe and North America are part of the company’s future expansion plan.
Asian livestream center and consumer adoption
Trip.com recently established an Asian livestreaming center in Thailand. How well is the livestream format being received by overseas customers， compared to the more livestream-savvy Chinese market?
James Liang noted that it will take time for this format to be adopted. Chinese e-commerce and social media marketing are more advanced, and places like Thailand, which are culturally closer to China, adopt livestreaming earlier.
However, in the long run, livestreaming is unlikely to become a mainstream sales channel, as the majority of bookings will still follow the current OTA model. That said, price-sensitive and impulse-buying customers may engage in stockpiling consumption through livestreaming, and hotels and travel agencies are willing to offer discounts for this additional demand.
