Trip.com Group has seen air reservations in overseas brands climb more than 200% for January and February 2022.
Reporting fourth quarter and full-year 2021 results, James Liang, executive chairman of the business, says the company is emerging having “built solid resilience and become fundamentally stronger.”
Trip.com Group says net revenue for 2021 was up 9% to $3 billion year-on-year while net revenue for Q4 at $735 million was a 6% decrease on 2020, attributed to new virus outbreaks.
Net loss for 2021 was $86 million compared to a loss of more than $500 million in 2020.
EBITDA for the full year was $203 million compared to $267 million year-on-year.
Revenue from accommodation reservations for Q4 was down 14% to $301 million but up 14% to $1.3 billion for the year.
Transportation ticketing revenue dipped 11% in the quarter to $238 million but was up 3% to $1 billion compared with 2020.
Revenue from packaged tours meanwhile, was down 32% in Q4 to $28 million but up 11% to $173 million for the year, compared with 2020.
Trip.com also reports some recovery in its corporate travel unit with revenue for Q4 2021 up 20% to $58 million and up 54% to $211 million for the year.
The OTA invested $204 million in sales and marketing in Q4, a 5% increase on Q4 of 2020.
Sales and marketing expenses for 2021 were up 12% to $772 million.
CEO Jane Sun says: “Despite the industry fluctuations and weaker seasonality, we delivered another solid performance in the fourth quarter. We will remain adaptive facing fast-changing market conditions and continue to adopt stringent cost control.
"Meanwhile, we are also working hard to create more value for our customers, industry partners, and the society at large."
Responding to analysts' questions on the reopening of China’s borders, Liang says “change in international policy in the near term” was not expected.
He adds that travel bubbles and “experimental opening measures in selected cities” may start in the summer.