chinadotcom corporation Secures Exclusive Franchise to Distribute e-Travel Services of State-owned China Travel Services, Through Majority Stake in chinaholiday.com
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Over 800 Registered Travel Agents and 2000 Hotels Serviced
With Comprehensive B2B Platform
HONG KONG, July 17 /PRNewswire/ --
chinadotcom corporation (NASDAQ:CHINA); (www.corp.china.com), the leading
pan-Asian integrated Internet company, today announced it has acquired a
majority stake in chinaholiday.com (www.chinaholiday.com), the leading
Mainland China B2B travel platform. chinaholiday is the only website to have
the exclusive online franchise for distributing travel products and packages
of China Travel Services, the leading state-owned travel agency in China.
chinaholiday.com has been rated by China Internet Network Information
Centre (CNNIC) as one of the best e-travel sites in China. Its B2B platform
allows travelers and travel agencies to make online purchases of airline
tickets and hotel rooms. The site has been able to establish itself as a
leader in the industry due to its superior service and its comprehensive
e-Commerce platform. Today, over 800 registered travel agents and 2000 hotels
in China use chinaholiday.com for online purchasing and product distribution
and it is expected that within the next two years, 30% of registered travel
agents in China will be using the chinaholiday platform.
According to a recent report by IDC, by 2004 there will be more than
33 million people in China using the Internet. Of these, 21% are expected to
make purchases online. China is considered to be potentially the largest
e-Commerce market in the world; a market that is estimated to be worth
US$11.71 billion by 2004. The travel industry has been rated by industry
analysts as one of the key B2B e-Commerce growth areas, and through its
investment in chinaholiday, chinadotcom is well positioned to take full
advantage of this.
"We are committed to developing the Internet industry and e-Commerce in
China. To support and grow the B2B market, chinadotcom will continue to work
closely with leading government organizations and state-owned enterprises. We
are looking to partner with the dominant players in key industries and our
investment in chinaholiday.com is a great example of such a partnership. This
majority stake demonstrates our commitment to playing a leading role in
China's B2B market, which is predicted to grow rapidly in the coming few
years, " said Peter Yip, Chief Executive Officer of chinadotcom corporation.
Lang Wei, Director of chinaholiday, commented, "We are delighted to be
partnering with chinadotcom on the further development of chinaholiday. We
believe a leading, multilingual, full service, pan-Asian travel portal will
result from the combination of chinaholiday's popularity, coupled with
chinadotcom's proven record of success in the Internet industry across Asia."
About chinadotcom corporation
chinadotcom corporation (NASDAQ:CHINA); (www.corp.china.com) is a leading
pan-Asian Internet company offering web solutions, portal and online
advertising services. Through its three business units, chinadotcom provides
a full range of Internet services around the Asia Pacific region that;
1) build e-business strategies and solutions (Web Connection), 2) distribute
content via its portal network (china.com, cww.com, hongkong.com, and
taiwan.com), and 3) sell services through online advertising (24/7 Media
Asia).
Fuelling the growth of these three business units is a synergistic
investment strategy that leverages on chinadotcom's existing operational and
cost infrastructure. By partnering with companies that have proven and
successful track records, such as America Online, Softbank, Trans Cosmos and
Agence France Presse, chinadotcom is well positioned to create long term
shareholder value through its investments.
The company has nearly 2,000 employees in 28 offices across more than 10
markets, including Japan, Korea, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand, and the USA. In Mainland China, the company has 13 offices
and over 550 employees. For more information about chinadotcom corporation,
please visit corp.china.com .
About Chinaholiday.com
Chinaholiday (www.chinaholiday.com) is one of the earliest pioneer
websites focused in travel and tourism e-commerce in China. Over the course
of three years since 1997, Chinaholiday has set up itself as a leading name
brand in the field of online travel and tourism business in China.
Chinaholiday provides a full range of online travel products such as
ticketing, hotel booking, and package tours. Chinaholiday also provides
advertising services specifically tailored to the travel business. Website
building (ASP) is also a unique feature for Chinaholiday since most of the
smaller travel agencies lack the ability to construct their own internet
presence and capability.
Chinaholiday operates strongly in its B2B platform business feature,
working closely with hundreds of travel agencies. Chinaholiday is also the
only official partner for CTS (China Travel Service, one of the largest travel
operators in China) to distribute its products and services through
chinaholiday's website platform.
Chinaholiday is ranked among the top websites for many times by both the
media and government agencies. Just this week, Chinaholiday is awarded by the
Ministry of Culture as the only excellent website in the category of travel
and tourism. This survey was conducted by a third party over a period of
8 months monitoring over 600 websites in China, and only 15 came out as
winners.
Safe Harbor Statement
The statements in this news release, other than the historical financial
information, may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from anticipated
results. Further information on risk factors that could affect chinadotcom
corporation's results of operations is detailed in chinadotcom corporation's
registration statements and annual report, as filed with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE chinadotcom corporation
-0- 07/17/2000
/CONTACT: Susan Chan of chinadotcom corporation, +852-2961-2694, or fax,
+852-2571-0410, or susan.chan@hk.china.com/
/Web site: corp.china.com
chinaholiday.com |
