Just a year ago, Chinese travelers could not do much online except conduct research. Buying travel was almost exclusively an offline activity. But that’s all changing quickly.
A growing number of the 404-million Internet users on the Chinese mainland are now making travel purchases online. And that growth will accelerate in the coming years, according to iResearch, which will lead to a strong surge in Internet outlets.
“And iResearch estimates that revenue from the online travel service market will more than triple between 2009 and 2013,” the company says.
The number of China’s …

Online travel services provider eLong (Nasdaq:LONG) and Beijing-based online entertainment company Oak Pacific Interactive plan to release an eLong booking widget for Oak Pacific Interactive’s social networking service site Renren.com (formerly called Xiaonei.com) September 4, Sina reported August 28 citing eLong CEO Cui Guangfu. Reports in mid-August said that Oak Pacific Interactive will continue to purchase shares in eLong in order to gain “speaking rights” and better integrate the companies’ user bases.
Source: JLM Pacific Epoch (August 28, 2009)

Travelzen today announced the launch of a ‘Truly Hassle-free’ Travelzen.com website that will set new benchmarks in business and leisure travel in China. Guaranteeing both prices and availability, the new site will also eliminate the annoying last-minute increases in quoted prices that have long handicapped the development of China‘s online travel industry.
The impressive result of 2 years’ intensive R&D, the new website will see Travelzen become the first travel provider in China to offer a genuinely world-class end-to-end online travel experience. Leveraging its ‘Truly Hassle-free’ transaction model, Travelzen.com will free travelers from the …