Trip.com Group says it was experiencing steady recovery in both
its domestic and overseas business in the beginning of the third quarter of 2021, but then COVID-19 reemerged in some regions of China, dealing a blow to
the quarter’s financial results.
The company’s revenue in Q3 was $831 million, down 9%
compared to the second quarter of this year.
Adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter was $84 million, down
from $144 million in Q2.
One bright spot in the quarter: Trip.com's international flight
reservations were up 40% compared to the second quarter of this year, which the
company attributes to recovery in European markets and the United States.
Skyscanner
also saw air ticket bookings increased by approximately 100% year-over-year,
and around 35% quarter-over-quarter.
In a call
with analysts to discuss the results, Trip.com Group executive chairman James
Liang says, on the international front, Asia Pacific and Europe will continue
to be the focus.
“In Europe,
all of our brands have been closely collaborating throughout the previous
quarters, giving a strong boost to Trip.com's product competitiveness in the
region. In the long run, Trip.com will continue to enhance it product offering
and leverage Skyscanner's strong metrics and strengthening its market presence
in Europe,” he says.
“Such local
focus, global vision will continue to be our core strategy in coming years. We
will remain focused on strengthening the base competitiveness, and will prepare
to embrace the global travel revival and tourism boom. We hope to see such
inputs start to bear fruit and to be reflected in the performance of our
business over the next three to five years.”
Trip.com Group says “staycations” continue to drive domestic
travel recovery, with “intraprovince hotel reservations” growing about 35% and
local hotel reservations growing more than 60% compared to the pre-COVID period
in 2019.
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Revenue from corporate travel management was down slightly
compared to Q2 - $53 million versus $60 million in the prior quarter, but
Trip.com Group says this quarter’s figure is 1% more than the same period in
2019 and 20% more than the same period in 2020 due to an expanded customer base
and “optimized product mix.”
Accommodation reservation revenue in Q3 was $341 million, an
11% decrease both compared to Q2 of this year and compared to Q3 of 2020.
Transportation ticketing revenue was $282 million, down 5%
compared to the third quarter of 2020 and down 12% compared to the prior
quarter.
Packaged-tour revenue for the third quarter was $61 million,
up 20% compared to Q3 2020 and up 7% compared to the second quarter of this year.
The company credits the increase to demand primarily in July, before COVID reemerged.
Sales and marketing expenses in Q3 of $197 million accounted
for 24% of net revenue and were an increase of 12% compared to the same period
in 2020.
“As the world is moving ahead and international travel
becomes realistic once again, we face many challenges for global recovery,” says
Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group.
“With crisis comes opportunity. We are working hard to seize
opportunities by investing more in services, products and technology to reinstate
traveler confidence, and to pursue the perfect trip for a better world.”
On Monday Trip.com
Group announced it will add “price freeze” capabilities enabled by Hopper’s B2B
Hopper Cloud product for users booking flights on Trip.com in Europe and
North America.