CHINA. The online travel market in China accounted for between CNY4 and CNY5 billion (US$483 million to US$604 million) in revenue last year, underlining the rapidly-developing travel market in what will soon become the world’s largest economy.
The China National Tourism Bureau has found that the online travel service accounted for a fifth of China’s e-commerce trade. This share is set to grow to 30% within a year or two, say experts.
The travel industry is moving fast to ensure that it does not lose out on travellers who prefer who prefer to book online.
China Travel Service (Hong Kong), for example, has said that it will invest HK$300 million (US$38.4 million) in an online service for mainland Chinese.
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