What we think about Trip.com (TCOM)
Trip.com in Three Words: Travel, Optionality, Efficient
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Background
Trip.com, formerly known as Ctrip, is China's largest online travel agency. It began in 1999 as a collection of small kiosks and physical locations, where agents could book hotel rooms for travelers anywhere in China. Over the next 25 years, it has gained scale over the internet and then launched a popular mobile app.
Today, Trip has more than 300 million users and is China’s largest online travel booking site. It can book airline flights that connect 5,000 cities and room accommodations at more than 1.4 million hotels. It offers other travel experiences too, from simple bus tour tickets to a $200,000 “around the world” vacation package. Corporate travelers also use it repeatedly to book their work-related trips.
Trip.com receives a commission from each booking that’s placed, and the amount is based upon the reservation type and the amount of agent assistance. With most of its partners, it receives a guaranteed allotment of flight seats or hotel rooms – so it can immediately confirm and guarantee them to customers. That’s a big advantage over its smaller rivals, who often don’t get a confirmation until after the reservation.
The company operates under four major brands: Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar. While it’s best-known as “Ctrip” in China, its other brands can be used to book flights and accommodations all across the globe.
You might notice its Trip.com site looks similar to Booking.com or Travelocity (you'll also notice how cheap the flights are right now), and it’s becoming incredibly popular internationally. The number of Trip.com branded airline flights booked outside of China has doubled annually several consecutive quarters.
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