Foreign investors think highly of China’s online travel market

Shortly after China’s online travel agency Ctrip purchased 37.6% stake of its competitor eLong, it became the largest shareholder of eLong, Priceline announced it was going to make $250 million follow up investment in the Ctrip company, and Ctrip is now under the spotlight in the online travel market. The investment made by Priceline, the world’s biggest online travel service provider, and Priceline’s expansion into the Chinese online travel market by a capital increment is boosting confidence in China’s domestic online travel industry.

OTA厂商(在线旅行社)携程将收购竞争对手艺龙37.6%的股份，成为后者最大股东的余温尚未散去，近日媒体又报道了全球最大的在线旅游服务商Priceline集团将向携程追加投资2.5亿美元的新闻，一时间携程在在线旅游市场风光无限。全球最大在线旅游服务商看好携程，并以增资的方式渗入中国在线旅游市场，这也极大地提振了国内在线旅游行业信心。

Online travel is an emerging industry that meets customers’ demands on request –  reservation, reviews and other relevant information are all readily available online. Its services range from online travel websites to providers of services such as airlines, hotels and car-rental firms. Internet. Thanks to the rapid popularization of Internet, online travel websites have become an important tool for people planning to travel. Compared with the traditional travel models, online travel planning is more convenient and efficient, often with lower prices, It has gained in popularity in the recent years.

在线旅游是指凭借互联网手段，用以满足消费者旅游信息查询、产品预订与服务评价以及信息交流的新兴产业。它包括在线旅游网站以及航空公司、酒店、景区、租车公司等线下供应商。得益于互联网的快速普及，在线旅游成为了人们旅游出行的重要手段，与传统旅游相比，在线旅游更方便快捷，而且产品售价更低，因此近年正受到市场青睐。

OTA is a network platform of online travel services as well as a major tool of online planning for customers. For now, there are many OTA businesses in China – LY.com, Qunar, eLong, LvMaMa and tuniu.com. The online travel market in China has formed a competitive marketplace including Ctrip, Tencent, Baidu and Alibaba.

OTA是在线旅游的网络平台，也是消费者用于在线旅游的重要方式。目前国内OTA厂商有同程网、去哪儿网、艺龙网、驴妈妈旅游网、途牛网等。与其他被互联网影响过的行业女一样，OTA的背后也充斥着互联网企业资本。我国在线旅游市场基本形成了携程、腾讯、百度与阿里等体系。携程系主要掌握艺龙、途牛、同程等OTA以及快捷酒店管家、众荟等线下供应商；腾讯则有同程、艺龙、驴妈妈、我趣、面包旅行等；百度则有去哪儿网；阿里有佰程旅行网、穷游网等。

According to a recent survey, the scale of this new Internet based travel market has reached 277.2 billion yuan, up to 27.1% compared with  last year. With further development of Internet and continuing investment in online travel businesses, the scale of the Internet travel services is expected to exceed 300 billion yuan in 2015, reaching 352.8 billion yuan.

调查显示，2014年我国在线旅游市场规模达2772亿元，同比增长27.1%。随着互联网进一步发展，以及资本不断涌入在线旅游领域，预计2015年在线旅游市场规模将突破3000亿元，达3528亿元。

However, as an emerging industry, online traveling is still chaotic. OTA and its offline providers need to solve some problems. For example, sales promotions with lower prices boost sales, but the service is, as the price gets lower, of lower quality as well. This has been causing increasing complaints of OTA, certain scenic spots and hotels. Moreover, the lower price also cause conflicts between OTA and local services suppliers. The key to further development of online traveling business lies in the products with better services instead of lower prices. The quality provided has been increasingly important concern for the tourist industry, as well as in many other industries in China. This problem will become more important as the individual reviews are able to reach future customers online.

不过，作为新兴产业，目前在线旅游市场充斥了较多乱象，这有待OTA以及其线下供应商解决。如同质化竞争下的低价促销，这虽然增加了产品销售，但是价格下降，服务水平也随之降低，这也导致了OTA与景区以及酒店等投诉率接连上升。此外定价过低也易于引起OTA与供应商之间的摩擦。因此，未来在线旅游行业的发展关键不在于低价，而是更高性价比的产品，也就是说，产品质量与创新服务将日益受到重视。