With a core focus on ultra-low prices, Trip.com, the international brand of China's online travel platform Trip.com Group, has cemented its foothold in South Korea's travel market. Through precise localization strategies and highly competitive pricing, the platform attracted a growing number of Korean users.
According to data from South Korea's Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) for airline passengers in December last year, Trip.com rose to 4th place in air ticket sales, a significant leap from 13th place in 2022.
The BSP, a key International Air Transport Association (IATA) settlement system used to gauge travel agencies’ air ticket sales, underscores Trip.com’s momentum. Although the platform dropped to 5th place last month, it still outperformed major South Korean travel agencies such as Mode Tour.
Industry experts predict that at its current growth rate, Trip.com is on track to break into South Korea’s top three air ticket sellers this year, posing a serious challenge to market leaders like Hana Tour and leading OTA, NOL UNIVERSE.
Trip.com's rapid growth is also reflected in its app downloads. In the first nine months of last year, the platform accounted for 13% of all travel app downloads in South Korea, ranking second only to Naver Maps—its best performance across all countries, surpassing even the United States and Japan.
Notably, in the third quarter of last year, Trip.com even topped South Korea’s travel app download rankings at one point.
