Ctrip’s Japan office has become fully operational this month, with expanded staff from various divisions including tour group, independent package travel, accommodation, finance, local entertainment and HR manning the 315 square meter office located at 15 minute walk from Tokyo station.
Of the 2.7176 million Chinese that visited Japan for sightseeing and business in 2014, 800,000 were registered Ctrip members. More than 100,000 of them bought holiday tour itineraries, with the number of tour group and independent travelers evenly split. As travel interest to Japan will stay high with the easing of visa requirements, the devaluation of the yen against the yuan and favorable duty free shopping policy, Ctrip projects that the number of group travelers to Japan from China will more than double this year, with more than 10,000 visitors per month.
Ctrip Japan aims to improve ground service assurance in terms of reception, guiding and emergency services in order to ensure the physical and financial safety of independent travelers and tour groups. It will also partner with local suppliers to access higher quality resources and develop Japanese travel products with differentiation and individualization unseen yet in China. The branch office also serves to promote the Ctrip brand locally and provide instant response to local situations.
Japan is a key market for Ctrip’s destination development strategy. Ctrip has been developing its exclusive destination management and service systems, complete with travel distribution centers, branch offices and airport service counters, in overseas destinations where it has the highest market share, in order to gain full control of service quality and resources in every part of the entire service chain.
Ctrip’s overseas branches and customer centers already cover destinations like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Maldives and Hawaii. Domestically, it has service centers in Shanghai, Sanya, Lijiang, Huangshan and Zhoushan and more. It plans to build a network of 1,000 ground service centers globally within three to five years.(Translation by David)
