Ctrip.com International, Ltd., China’s travel industry giant and the newest cruise ship operator, has just completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Travelfusion. Alan Lam reports.

Ctrip’s meteoric rise seems to be endless and gravity defying. Travelfusion is a leading UK-based online Low Cost Carrier (LCC) travel content aggregator and innovator of Direct Connect, which is a distribution platform that enables the world's travel agents and mobile travel services to search and book the content through Travelfusion's API, desktop or internet booking engine technologies and facilitates global payment and settlement solutions.

Having recently entered a partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to set up and operate SkySea Cruises in China, and having launched the most advanced cruise-booking platform in Chinese languagefor booking worldwide cruise voyages, the group’s latest acquisition will help further strengthening its position in the global cruise market. The control of Travelfusion will also mean a firm foothold in the UK and European travel markets. 

"The strategic relationship we built with Travelfusion will further extend our leadership in China's international travel market,” said James Liang, Chairman and CEO of Ctrip,“and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our IT system by leveraging Travelfusion's advanced technology. We are excited to work with Travelfusion's team to create greater value for our customers."

"China is expected to be the largest travel market in the world,”said Mr. Moshe Rafiah, CEO of Travelfusion,“and Ctrip is the clear leader in the online and mobile travel industry in China. After 15 years of building Travelfusion to be an industry leader, we are thrilled to take further steps to realise and fulfil our potential in such a great market with such a powerful industry leader."