Ctrip expands its "Hotel University" training program to hoteliers worldwide

Ctrip is expanding its hotel marketing education program that began last year in China to markets around the world, starting with Thailand. "Ctrip Hotel University" provides in-person training intended to help hoteliers and other accommodation suppliers be more effective at marketing and operating their properties.

The first session in Thailand, held in January, included 150 hotel executives and suppliers for training on customer behavior analysis, overseas market analysis, rules of the Ctrip platform and online, offline and WeChat marketing strategies.

“We want to build a hotel online marketing curriculum system in the short term ... to help merchants improve their knowledge and skills, thereby enhancing their competitiveness on Ctrip, ultimately help them to increase income on Ctrip,” says Xu Liqun, president of Ctrip Hotel University.

Last October, Ctrip held the first training sessions for more than 3,000 hotels in 50 cities in China, and it says average merchandise volume of participating hotels has increased 9%.

Ctrip says it believes this type of offline, in-person training can provide more depth than online courses, and during 2019, it will expand the program as part of the company’s overall focus on global growth.

“Future Ctrip Hotel University courses will be held in more countries, involving hotels and hotel groups around the world to promote the global hotel ecosystem,” Liqun says.