Interview: Ctrip CEO on Growth Strategies and Employee Empowerment
Photo Credit: Ctrip CEO Jane Sun discussed the company's domestic leisure and outbound travel strategies, as well as services for women and children to help move past the country's former one-child policy. Ctrip
Skift Take
Ctrip dominates online travel in China and will benefit from the continued shift from offline to online bookings. Additionally, the company is pushing more into the lucrative outbound market. We discuss these trends and more with CEO Jane Jie Sun.
Chinese outbound travel gets so much attention these days, but domestic leisure travel remains the core driver of Ctrip's financial results with the company having a dominant share of online bookings in the top cities within mainland China.
I recently visited Shanghai and had the chance to interview Ctrip CEO Jane Jie Sun, and we discussed a broad range of issues.
After its investments in former rivals Qunar and eLong, Ctrip has managed to tone down the severe discounting that was under way, and is now pushing into lower-tier cities.
On another front, Ctrip does have a very large share of online travel in China, but the move from offline to online bookings is still very early in its transition path. Additionally, rising incomes have increased the size of the middle class and affluent population, further propelling domestic travel.
The outbound market, which is already a $261 billion industry, is the next push for Ctrip. Outbound travel growth from mainland China to Hong Ko
