Ctrip.com has been eyeing the U.S. market for quite some time, and in May, the Shanghai-based online agency for travel in China launched an English version of its site.
"Ctrip is well-positioned to provide expanded travel products and a fun, simple travel booking experience to customers in the United States, who have proven that they are increasingly interested in travel to China," Min Fan, chief executive officer of Ctrip, said in a release.
Ctrip said that it is seeing an increase in business from English-speaking leisure and business travelers, predominantly from the U.S. market.
"China tourism receipts totaled more than $150 billion in 2007, a healthy 22.6% year-over-year growth, and many of those tourists are coming to China from America and other English-language markets," Min said. "As such, we are very excited about the opportunities in advancing our website into this particular market."
Similar to U.S. counterparts such as Expedia and Travelocity, Ctrip offers hotel, air, car rentals and packaged tours. In fact, one of Ctrip's largest competitors is the Beijing-based Elong.com, which is 52% owned by Expedia.
"The U.S. market is well-established, and for us to come in and compete with the big spenders on marketing, like Expedia and Travelocity, would be a very unwise decision right now," the company said in a statement.
"The decision to enter the U.S. market is one which should be done with full awareness of our competitive advantages and disadvantages."
According to Ctrip's data, the U.S. is potentially the most lucrative English-speaking inbound market for China. But Ctrip is still taking a cautious approach to the U.S. The company has 10 offices worldwide, with more than 7,000 employees, but still none stateside.
It said that it will be looking in the next few months to possibly have U.S. sales representatives and will also be looking to expand its destinations internationally.
Currently, all flights that Ctrip offers originate in China, and more than 90% of bookings are for travel entirely within China.
Ctrip was founded in 1999, and Ctrip.com International Ltd. has been listed on Nasdaq (stock symbol CTRP) since its initial public offering in December 2003. In 2007, 9.6 million hotel room nights and 10.7 million flights were booked on Ctrip.com, according to the company. The company services nearly 500 destinations, with a database that includes 7,000 attractions, 28,000 hotels and all major airlines in China.