Ctrip’s Trip.com adds international car rental service

Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency, is bolstering its Trip.com site with the addition of international car rentals, bringing it one step closer to becoming a comprehensive source for all travel needs.

Trip.com already offers plane tickets on more than two million routes, reservations at more than 1.2 million hotels and train tickets. The services are available in 13 languages online and via a mobile app.

Beginning this month, customers can use Trip.com’s “Car Hire” service to book rental cars in more than 6,000 cities around the world.

The service is currently available via desktop search in English and additional languages, and a mobile version will launch soon.

"The ability for travelers all over the world to seamlessly access car rentals as part of their travel itinerary on Trip.com is a crucial step in building out our global platform," says Yuchen Wang, Ctrip group rental car CEO.

"As a key connection between airports and hotels, car rental services are an important and growing part of both commercial and individually organized travel. In particular, we are seeing more and more Chinese travelers choosing to rent cars on their trips. With our cost-efficient and integrated car rental services, Trip.com is well positioned to become a top choice for booking end-to-end international travel itineraries."

The company cites a study it conducted in 2017 that found the rate of car travel by Chinese consumers abroad jumped 300% year over year.

In a statement, the company says it “went through vigorous and intensive screening, assessment and contracting of car rental suppliers in order to be able to entrust high quality services.”