Trip.com vows investment for tourism push

Trip.com Group will invest 15 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) over the next five years to promote China as a travel destination globally, betting that a post-pandemic rebound in global travel demand and expanding visa-free access can turn the sector into a major growth driver for both the company and the world's second-largest economy.

The investment — announced on Monday by Liang Jianzhang, co-founder and executive chairman of the board at Trip.com Group, at an industry conference in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region — will fund overseas advertising campaigns, influencer marketing, destination promotions and international partnerships aimed at attracting foreign visitors to China.

The company also set a target of bringing 200 million international visitors to China over the next five years.

"We used to sell Chinese products to the world. Now it is time to sell China's services and experiences to the world," Liang said.

The move comes as China is doubling down on services exports, with policymakers having embedded "encouraging and supporting services exports" into the Government Work Report as a key task for this year.

China's travel services exports surged 32.3 percent year-on-year to 105.35 billion yuan in the first quarter, the fastest growth among all services export categories, said the Ministry of Commerce.

Inbound tourism has been boosted by waves of measures spanning visa facilitation, payment convenience and streamlined departure tax refunds. China has expanded unilateral visa-free access covering 50 countries and introduced a 240-hour transit visa-free arrangement covering 55 countries at 65 ports. In the first quarter, foreign nationals made roughly 8.32 million visa-free entries into China, representing an increase of 29.3 percent year-on-year, official data revealed.

Industry analysts said the strategy is also closely aligned with the company's own international expansion ambitions.

The company reported revenue of 62.4 billion yuan in 2025, up 17 percent year-on-year. International bookings on its overseas platform Trip.com grew about 60 percent year-on-year, while the company served approximately 20 million inbound travelers during the year, according to company disclosures.

The company does not separately disclose revenue from inbound tourism, but management has identified cross-border travel as one of its fastest-growing businesses. The company has spent heavily in recent years building brand awareness for Trip.com in overseas markets.

Analysts said attracting more foreign visitors to China would not only increase transaction volumes across hotels, flights and attractions, but also strengthen Trip.com's position against global online travel agencies such as Booking Holdings and Expedia Group.

To improve the visitor experience, Trip.com has worked with more than 8,000 attractions to make ticket bookings available to foreign travelers, expanded multilingual services and introduced airport assistance programs for overseas visitors.

But despite the strong recovery, challenges remain.

Tourism executives at the conference said language barriers, uneven service standards and limited international awareness of many Chinese destinations continue to constrain growth. Liang also pointed to opportunities to develop more internationally appealing entertainment, events and cultural experiences to boost spending by overseas visitors.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates global international tourist arrivals reached 1.52 billion in 2025, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The Asia-Pacific was among the fastest-growing regions, providing a larger pool of potential visitors for China.

For the company, the 15 billion yuan investment represents a long-term bet that China's tourism sector can become a stronger export industry for services, as foreign visitors increasingly seek experiences ranging from high-speed rail and digital payments to cultural heritage sites and natural attractions.

"China has unique advantages in tourism," Liang said. "As a Chinese company, we have a responsibility to help the world discover them."

lijing2009@chinadaily.com.cn