HONG KONG, April 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Trip.com Group, a leading global travel services provider, officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today (under Stock Code 9961.HK).
Trip.com Group is now dual listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ stock exchange in the US (under TCOM), the first global travel group to do so.
To celebrate the opening of trading of Trip.com Group shares on Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the travel group held a ceremony at its Shanghai headquarters where James Liang, chairman of the executive board, and Jane Sun, chief executive officer, were joined by key stakeholders, investors, guests, employees, and members of the media.
The listing ceremony and celebrations were livestreamed to investors and viewers around the world through Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s online platform.
Trip.com Group selected guests representative of the company’s history and breadth of stakeholders to strike the gong at the listing ceremony to mark the opening of trading.
The guests included the first ever Trip.com Group app user, travellers who have visited hundreds of countries using Trip.com Group platforms, and core ecosystem partners.
James Liang, co-founder and chairman of the board, in his speech at the list ceremony said, “22 years ago, we began in a 40m2 office with only a handful of employees. Today, we have tens of thousands of employees worldwide. It is my honour to have our representative users strike the gong and open trading on this momentous occasion. I want to thank every single customer, partner, sponsor and traveller who has supported us throughout our 22 year journey.”
In the 22 years from 1999 to 2021, Trip.com Group has grown from 784 registered users on a single platform at its inception to now owning and operating a range of leading travel services platforms with hundreds of millions of users worldwide.
In the past 22 years, Trip.com Group has been at the forefront of the development of China’s Internet, travel and service industries, expanding its global presence over the last two decades to become one of the world’s leading travel service providers.
Speaking at the listing celebrations, Jane Sun, chief executive officer of Trip.com Group, said, “By being dual-listed in the US and Hong Kong, we are able to have a truly global offering that better reflects our international presence and outlook. Thank you to Hong Kong Stock Exchange and all of our investors and partners for joining us on this journey, we look forward to ushering in the global travel revival and achieving much more together.”
Trip.com Group plans to use the net proceeds from this listing to fund the expansion of its one-stop travel offerings and improve user experience, invest in technology to bolster its leading market position in products and services and improve its operating efficiency, and for general corporate purposes and working capital needs.
From the onset of the global pandemic Trip.com Group has played an active role in supporting travellers and partners around the world. In June 2020, the travel group launched its Travel On initiative to provide vital support to partners and rollout a series of tailored travel products and services to enable and inspire travel.
Trip.com Group’s efforts to kick-start the safe return of global travel include introducing the Safe Travels protocol with the World Travel & Tourism Council, the launch of the company’s COVID-19 International Traveller’s Guide, and its recent announcement on joining forces with the Common Project Foundation and World Economic Forum to co-develop initiatives that enable safer cross-border travel.
Trip.com Group recently unveiled its plans to boost its content ecosystem and partner marketing capabilities with the launch of its new travel marketing strategy designed to allow suppliers to expand and enhance their marketing activities on Trip.com Group platforms.
This latest move coincides with the travel group’s commitment to building a one-stop travel platform, integrating differentiated travel content, driving huge traffic volume and providing comprehensive travel products to meet the evolving needs of the post-pandemic traveller and further support partners.
