China’s major online travel agency Trip.com, formally known as Ctrip, is entering a partnership with the self-claimed world’s largest travel site TripAdvisor, as it seeks to bring the business further, both firms announced on Wednesday.
A joint venture, which will be operated globally as TripAdvisor China, will be set up by the two companies’ subsidiaries, Ctrip Investment Holding Ltd, and TripAdvisor Singapore Private Limited. Trip.com will be the largest shareholder while TripAdvisor will own 40% of the joint venture.
The strategic partnership will also see global content agreements and governance agreement between the duo.
The tie-up marks an important step for China’s Trip.com to realize its globalization vision with greater quality services, while it will allow TripAdvisor, who helps over 459 million travelers worldwide every month, to further strengthen its position as a global travel leader, according to the press release.
Founded in 1999 and listed in Nasdaq in 2003, Trip.com, which has Baidu as a shareholder with a 12% stake, has grown to become one of the most preferred sites for Chinese travelers and one of the biggest travel companies in the world in terms of gross merchandise value, thanks to the fast development of the country’s tourism.
The company, when it was still known as Ctrip, acquired the UK-based air-ticketing comparison site Skyscanner for USD 1.7 billion in 2016, in a move to expand its services beyond the home market, Bloomberg reported.
In October, the company rebranded itself as Trip.com Group Ltd, a firm englobing the platforms Ctrip, Trip.com, Qunar, and Skyscanner, according to Yahoo Finance.
Earlier this year, the firm teamed up with 10 ride-hailing services across the world—including the US’s Lyft, Southeast Asia’s Grab, and South America’s Cabify—to offer mobility service to its users in more than 700 cities, KrASIA wrote.
Trip.com’s stock, traded under the code CTPR, rose 3.37% to USD 34.93 per share at closing on Wednesday.