Trip.com Group is stepping up its activities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with the opening of its new regional office in Dubai last Saturday as well as participating at the Arabian Travel Mart (ATM) 2024 for the first time.
The company is also tying up with local companies to create cross-selling opportunities by working closely with tourism boards in the region.
“We have just done the localisation of our sites in the Middle Eastern languages which we feel is critical to tap this market. We are also focusing on forging local partnerships like the recent one with Saudi Arabia’s Seera Group where we are talking about hotels, flights and even car rental integration. In the next one or two months, we are expecting to sell each other’s inventories,” said Boon Sian Chai, managing director and vice president of international markets at Trip.com Group while speaking to TTG Asia at ATM 2024 currently taking place in Dubai.
The company has also signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with regional tourism boards like Qatar and Saudi Arabia to expand its collaboration in the Middle East.
“We recently had a joint promotion with the Saudi Tourism Authority and SAUDIA airlines where we bundled air tickets with hotels to attract Chinese travellers – it recorded an overwhelming response. We are looking to forge similar partnerships with other tourism boards in the region,” he added.
In North Africa, Trip.com Group is mainly focusing on Egypt and Morocco primarily. Chai noted: “We are still small in the North African markets and are open to collaborating with tourism boards in the region too.”
Trip.com Group has observed an increase in travel interest to key destinations in the Middle East such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, with a triple-digit growth in bookings in 1Q2024 compared to the same period in 2023, demonstrating the region’s growing appeal.
