The Skyscanner comparator, owned by Ctrip, China’s largest online travel company, has advised its owner to acquire the American Trip. com… but why? ?
But what does Trip. com do?
Trip. com (formerly known as « Gogobot ») is a site and application that compares hotel and leisure offers in 60,000 destinations.
[1]Founded in 2010, Trip. com is the fifth most visited travel planning site in the United States. Trip. com was developed to allow a large community of travellers to share their experiences.
Nearly 50% of the nearly 4 million members of the site are located in Europe. The company logically set up a European headquarters in London. However, the company was not very profitable.
Skyscanner will take over Trip. com features from Trip. com
The Skyscanner comparator that was already working with Trip. com will take over some features that will enrich its content. It is obvious that the number of members of Trip. com will serve the interests of the comparator.
On the other hand, Ctrip will keep the brand Trip. com
The Trip. com trademark is now registered in the name of Ctrip. Shanghai Xiecheng Shangwu Youxian Gongsi is the administrative name of Ctrip. This acquisition may be motivated by the intention to use the Trip. com domain name and certain technologies.
Several observers believe that the Trip. com brand would serve Ctrip to broaden its worldwide audience.
To be continued then.
Serge Fabre