Ctrip (China Trip)携程 (pronounced xie cheng) meaning “going together to share the journey”: Scientifically Managing Travel Services Abe Quinteros

Present Position Ctrip.com International, Ltd. operates as a travel service provider for accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours, and corporate travel management in China The revenues of China’s online vacation market totaled roughly 26 billion yuan (US$3.82 bn) in Q2 2018, increases of 19.3% year-on-year or 11.3% quarter-on-quarter. Three holidays in this quarter, namely, Tomb-sweeping Day, Labor’s Day, and Dragon Boat Festival put this market back on track, which altogether received 337.1 million person-trips, up by 8.6% from Q1

Present Position China's largest travel site, Ctrip, lets users book hotels, flights, and packaged tours around the world. In 2016, an estimated 250 million travelers used the site, making it the world’s second-largest online travel agent. (In 2015, the company booked nearly $50 billion in travel.) Ctrip now owns one of the world's biggest flight metasearch engines following its $1.74 billion purchase of the Edinburgh-based Skyscanner in 2016. And with its recent acquisition of several tour companies in the United States, Ctrip is forming itself into an online travel service that’s part aggregator, part booking platform, and part end-to-end tour operator. In November 2016, Jane Jie Sun became Ctrip’s CEO and director of the board

It’s yet another move by Ctrip to make its platform the one- stop shop for all things travel-related. Aside from Ctrip’s core business of booking flights, hotels, and tour packages, the company also has its own digital tour guide and social space for independent travelers dubbed the virtual team manager (VTM) and its own travel activities platform called Things to Do (TTD). Ideally, Ctrip users will never have to use another app again while traveling Ctrip wants its platform to cover virtually every need of Chinese tourists while they’re abroad You can add global ride-hailing to the bevy of features offered to overseas travelers on Ctrip, China’s largest online travel agency (OTA). Ctrip recently announced that it has partnered with London-based startup Splyt to allow their travelers to book rides all over the world. New Markets

Background Ctrip (China trip) was established in Shaghai in 1999, at a time when Chinese travel agencies were small, weak, fragmented, and poor at service Less than 5% of the hotels belonged to hotel groups Hotels promoted themselves by advertising in newspapers Airlines were all state-owned E-ticket did not yet exist

Hotel Reservations and 800 number Ctrip used the Internet to provide more comprehensive, transparent and up-to-date information, targeting frequent independent travelers Launched online platform and 24 hour hotline Convinced hotels to accept payment-upon-check-in model From membership cards to tablet PC to acquire customers By 2010, had 17,000 hotel suppliers in China and 20,000 abroad

Air Ticketing and Packaged Tours Acquired Beijing Coast Air Service Company Shanghai Cui Ming International Created a nationwide platform and relationships with travel agencies in over 60 cities Growing use of credit cards and e-tickets accelerated growth and reduced fraud and errors For tours, emphasized service and transparency

Corporate Travel Management & 2011 growth Advantages in hotel, air ticketing, local market, and cost control capability 3 choices to client, if lowest not chosen, email sent to supervisor Different travel polices, 3 broad groups based on their transaction value, each with a distinct service model Overtake Amex; launched product for small and medium-sized enterprises Launched restaurant booking, high-speed-train ticketing, and wensite that consolidated leisure travel information

Creating the Company Culture Adopted 55443 Strategy Extremely Customer-Centric Nonhierarchical Scientifically Managed Creating the Company Culture

55443 Strategy 5- So far ahead of market the second player can’t catch up for at least 5 or 10 years 4- ahead of the market, but the advantage is relatively easy to replicate in the short term 3- market level

Ctrip grade 5- Service and branding 4- Product and IT 3- Price =55443

Extremely Customer-Centric Ctrip neither a typical Chinese nor typical American company, a hybrid US company’s management thinking and model with reliance on processes, data, and other formal management tools (Six Sigma) Chinese company sharp market insight, local characteristics of understanding, seizing, and responding rapidly to market opportunities

Extremely Customer-Centric Call center Slogans: ”Let customers hear our smile” and “100- 1=0”, meaning one mistake could wipe out all Ctrip had done to build a long-standing customer relationship Quality Assurance (QA) measured customer satisfaction and provided data to each department Data spoke louder than titles

Nonhierarchical Equal and open culture Open discussion We are direct Strong learning spirit Ctrip MBA to high-potential employees

Scientifically Managed Rooted in its DNA A systemic, data-driven, decision-making process Hypothesis formulation Extensive data collection Experimentation Standardized tools of total quality management Work measurement-”lifetime value of a customer” Division of labor Process analysis

Scientific Management Need for approach in a mass-producing service using High technology There are lots of transactions generating lots of data Customer requirements don’t change very much Culture requirements: Quantitative focus-measurable Need a good IT to generate and gather data, provide analytical tools Incentive system to practice and preach Open discussion, not just one analytical mind, but many, many people thinking this way

Scientific Approach to decision making When department heads applied for budgets, they had to demonstrate returns they could achieve with the investment Lower-level employees also used data

Question 1 If you had one last air ticket to offer, who should you offer it to: A) new B) one-time C) two-time D) three-time E) Diamond Customer

Answer If you had one last air ticket to offer, who should you offer it to: A) new B) one-time C) two-time D) three-time E) Diamond Customer

Decision Making Ctrip data showed that if it satisfied someone three times in a row, he or she would become a lifetime customer Experiments to support decision making with new members to sales team

Call Center Operations and Infrastructure Service and Contact Center: phone+ instant messaging, e-mail, and fax Candidates willingness to serve others Launched Android, iPhone, and Symbian mobile platforms IT accelerated training of new staff To ensure service quality, Ctrip broke down all critical tasks identifying discrete steps, control points, and potential failure modes

Issues

Question 2 Which one is not a Ctrip culture requirement? A) Quantitative focus-measurable B) Need a good IT to generate and gather data, provide analytical tools C) Incentive system to practice and preach D) Jean Fridays Question 2

Answer Which one is not a Ctrip culture requirement? A) Quantitative focus-measurable B) Need a good IT to generate and gather data, provide analytical tools C) Incentive system to practice and preach D) Jean Fridays Answer

Ctrip wants its platform to cover virtually every need of Chinese tourists while they’re abroad, What is there latest service? A) Global ride-hailing B) Up-graded meals C) First –Class goody bag D) Custom robe and slippers Question 3

Ctrip wants its platform to cover virtually every need of Chinese tourists while they’re abroad, What is there latest service? A) Global ride-hailing B) Up-graded meals C) First –Class goody bag D) Custom robe and slippers Answer