Ctrip.com (CTrip, 攜程旅行網), China’s biggest online travel agency, owns more than 50 percent of shares in its Taiwanese counterpart, ezTravel (台灣易遊網), much to the surprise of ezTravel’s president, a company official said yesterday, confirming reports carried earlier yesterday by local media.
“As ezTravel is Taiwan’s premier brand, going forward, ezTravel’s branding, operations and management shall remain the same,” said the official, who declined to be named.
This marks a foray into Internet travel collaboration across the Taiwan Strait. To mark the milestone, the official said ezTravel would follow in Ctrip’s footsteps to release weekly promotions every Wednesday at 3pm for 70 percent discounts on trips in China.
The state-run Central News Agency reported that Ctrip has been investing in ezTravel since 2006, when it had a 20 percent holding. In a three-year period, the NASDAQ-listed Chinese company has acquired more than 50 percent control of ezTravel.
“While we were aware that Ctrip had been buying our shares in bulk, we did not know the magnitude of Ctrip’s actual holdings until Wednesday,” the CNA quoted ezTravel president Jack Yu (游金章) as saying.
Yu said both firms share mutual respect and dismissed rumors that Ctrip would deploy its employees to ezTravel in the immediate future.
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