Alibaba Group upgraded Taobao Travel and launched an independent travel brand “Qu A” at Alitrip.com today and a corresponding mobile app is also released.
The domain name Alitrip is different from the pinyin or pronunciation of its Chinese brand “Qu A” (去啊) and it’s in English, hard for many Chinese to remember and type; not a very wise choice.
Alitrip.com operates as a platform offering air tickets and accommodation bookings, tickets of attractions, and tour packages, just like Taobao Travel, a travel section of Taobao.com
Alibaba wants to gain more in China’s booming travel market, where 57% Chinese made travel bookings online, by setting up a separate brand for travel. With the established user base on Taobao Travel and its rich resources, it’s promising to see Alitrip very competitive in China online travel market.
Taobao Travel’s half day transaction value reached RMB 157 million on Double 11 (Single’s Day) in 2013. Taobao Travel mobile app is also among the top six mobile app by total number of monthly active users, after Qunar, Ctrip, LY, eLong and Daodao.
Taobao agreed to invest RMB2.81 billion in Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co. Ltd (Shiji Information) who is listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange (code: 002153), a China-based hotel information technology provider, in return for a 15% stake, who has been appointed as the preferred vendor for many International Hotel Groups like Grand Hyatt, Sheraton, Hilton, Shangri-la, Marriott, Peninsula and Accor etc.
Read more: China National Day Travelers’ Insights
