Quarterly surge marks Q3 revenue of travel firms

Online travel agencies posted higher revenue during the third quarter as robust travel demand helped Chinese companies weather COVID-19 related sluggishness, experts said.

Trip.com Group, China's largest online travel agency, reported net revenue of 5.5 billion yuan ($805 million) during the third quarter, down 48 percent on a yearly basis, but up 73 percent on a quarterly basis, according to its latest earnings report released on Tuesday.

The Nasdaq-listed company said its results for the third quarter were negatively impacted by the pandemic, but benefited from the containment measures in China. The company's domestic business showed a strong recovery, which contributed substantially to the overall revenue.

"In the third quarter, the global travel industry continued to be under significant pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in China, we have already seen most of our major business segments return to the pre-pandemic level of activities in recent months," said Liang Jianzhang, executive chairman of Trip.com Group.

"The speedy recovery in the China market demonstrated once again the strong resilience of the travel industry," he said.

Trip.com Group said its domestic air ticketing and hotel reservations business saw positive year-on-year growth in the third quarter. Middle-range to high-end domestic hotel reservations saw double-digit growth during the third quarter, it said.

"Recent progress in the development of effective vaccines for the epidemic has been promising. We look forward to seeing more of our global markets resuming travel activities, following the successful footsteps we have witnessed in China," said Sun Jie, chief executive officer of Trip.com Group.

"Although challenges related to COVID-19 continued to affect our global business in the third quarter, we were able to quickly adapt our operations and show strong profitability amid great uncertainties. We will continue to stay lean while investing in the necessary resources to make sure we can capture an even larger market share as the market rebounds," she said.

Meanwhile, Beijing-based online travel agency Qunar said 9.34 million first-time flyers booked flight tickets on the platform so far this year, a five-year record. Qunar said it expects to achieve profitability this year, and has roped in new users from smaller cities and some consumers who were born after 1995.

Online travel platform Tongcheng-Elong said its third-quarter revenue increased by 59.5 percent on a quarterly basis to 1.91 billion yuan, driven by a robust recovery in consumer demand and market confidence in China. Yet, revenue dropped by 7.2 percent on a yearly basis, it said. The company's net profit for the period dropped to 372.5 million yuan from 419.2 million yuan in the year ago period.

Tongcheng-Elong's data showed that there has been strong demand for private group tours and individual travel during the upcoming Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 12 next year. Winter tour activities and travel to tropical Hainan province have fueled travel demand, the company said.

"The willingness to travel in the fourth quarter has reached the pre-pandemic level in China. The best time of the travel industry has not come yet, but the worst time is already over. We are embracing the dawn of market recovery," said Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy.