Online travel agency Trip.com turned profitable in the first quarter of 2023, highlighting the recovery of China’s travel market – IAG

China-based global travel agency Ctrip returns to profitability in three months to March 31, 2023, as China eases border restrictions from Jan 8, revenue up 124% YoY and 83% MoM to RMB 9 . 2 billion ($1.3 billion).

Released first-quarter financial results on Thursday, the Hong Kong-listed company’s executive chairman, Jianzhang Leung, pointed to an improvement in net profit of 3.4 billion yuan ($476 million) amid a “surge in both domestic and outbound tourism activity in China”. , reversing a 1 billion yuan ($140 million) loss in the first quarter of 2022. Adjusted EBITDA was RMB 2.8 billion (US$392 million), compared to RMB 91 million (US$12.7 million) in the same period last year.

Highlights in the first quarter included outbound hotel and air ticket bookings recovering to more than 40% of 2019 levels, outpacing the recovery of the overall outbound airline market, and air ticket bookings on the company’s global online travel platforms growing by more than 200% year-over-year. Domestic hotel bookings have increased by more than 100% compared to the first quarter of 2022, and same-city hotel bookings have increased by 150%.

“We are pleased to see our first quarter results demonstrate the long-term growth prospects of the travel industry and the strong execution of our team,” said Jie Sun, CEO of Ctrip. “Over the past three years, we have focused on strengthening our supply chain, content delivery and service quality. These improvements allow us to better capture pent-up travel demand and build a solid foundation for sustainable growth.”