Ctrip+eLong, Dominating China Online Travel Market

Recently, there are some bold actions in China online travel market. Ctrip, the leader company in this field, is trying to merge with eLong, which is the second largest player. Meanwhile, their competitor Qunar.com raises $800 million. It is worth to note that, if Ctrip merges with eLong, it might become monopoly. Ctrip is currently taking 50% of the market share. And it is investing and acquiring some leading companies in other aspects of this field like ticketing and hotel fields, trying to achieve domination.

There is a online poll saying that 80% netizens questioned believe that Ctrip and eLong has become monopoly by taking 60% market share. Experts in this field share the same conclusion. Their merging is suspected of being monopoly.

As the leading company in online travel market, Ctrip's every move, from mobile app to investments and acquisitions, concerns customers and market of being monopoly. After this merging, Ctrip will achieve the domination in online hotel booking market, weakening the bargaining power of the downstream hotels in negotiation, thus making huge profits.

For customers, Qunar.com will be the only choice after this merging. In an inadequate competition market, the dominator has no motivation to improve their products and services. It will hinder the development of the entire industry, injuring the interest of customers.

Some people say the travel industry in China has been a chaos for a long time. Those companies claim that their only concern is the customers and keep launching price war against each other. They rely on price, rather than products, services or technologies to pursue market share. It has been long complained by customers. And the neglect to their interest has led to customer loss.

If Ctrip become monopoly in this entire market chain of online travel, there will be no more choice for customers. Unless external forces take steps into this field.