Qunar mobile air ticket bookings exceed 60,000 in a day
Company also named top ticket booking app by downloads and usage
BEIJING, Jan 03, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via COMTEX) — Qunar Cayman Islands Limited QUNR +3.92% (“Qunar” or the “Company”), China’s leading search-based travel commerce platform, today announced that it achieved a single-day record for air ticket bookings, with more than 60,000 over the New Year holiday.
The Company also provided updates on progress of its mobile strategy. Qunar’s mobile hotel bookings reached 50% of total hotel bookings, while its mobile taxi-booking service, Cheche, has expanded coverage to over 42 cities in China. The announcement followed the publication of reports by CTCNN which named Qunar the leading app by November downloads, and by TalkingData which names the Company the market leader for both December mobile app user coverage and usage rates for Android devices.
In a report issued on Tuesday, Deutsche Bank analyst Alan Hellawell also noted that Qunar Travel has become the most popular ticket-booking app in China. According to a research survey conducted by Enfodesk, 63.6% of respondents named Qunar Travel as the most frequently used ticket-booking app for air-ticket bookings, train-ticket bookings and tourist attraction-related bookings, followed by 54.5% for its closest competitor.
Qunar has taken steps to improve its mobile offering with recent moves such as connecting its popular travel app to social media service WeChat’s mobile payment system and launching voice recognition for hotel search.
About Qunar
Qunar Cayman Islands Limited is the leading search-based commerce platform for the travel industry in China. Qunar’s goal is to empower Chinese travelers to define their travel experience. Founded in May 2005 and headquartered in Beijing, Qunar is committed to providing travelers with a one-stop travel information source on both PC and mobile devices. The Company enables travelers to find the best-value deals by aggregating and processing highly fragmented travel product information from tens of thousands of travel service providers into an organized and user-friendly display through its proprietary technology. According to research firm iResearch, Qunar has ranked No. 1 among all non-state-owned online travel companies in China in terms of monthly unique visitors since November 2010. Qunar’s mobile application “Qunar Travel” was ranked the most frequently used mobile travel application in China by China Internet Network Information Center in September 2012.
Leveraging its large user base and advanced technologies, the Company provides an attractive value proposition to its customers, which include travel service providers and display advertisers.
Qunar means “where to go” in Mandarin Chinese.
Related Story:
Qunar Jumps on Mobile Booking as Ctrip Slumps: China Overnight
By Belinda Cao (Jan 5 2014) From Business Week
Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd. (QUNR:US), the Chinese travel-booking website controlled by Baidu Inc., surged in New York after reporting an increase in travel reservation on mobile devices. Ctrip.com International Ltd. (CTRP:US) plunged.
Qunar, based in Beijing, rallied 11 percent on Jan. 3 to the highest level since its U.S. debut in November. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most traded Chinese stocks in New York slid 1.5 percent, capping a 2.5 percent slump last week. Ctrip.com, China’s biggest online travel agency, led declines on the gauge with a 7.9 percent retreat.
Qunar, which has surged 99 percent since its initial public offering, said in a statement Jan. 3 that its mobile application accounted for 50 percent of total hotel bookings, while air-ticket bookings reached a record over the New Year holiday. Ctrip said in November that 30 percent of its hotel bookings came from mobile devices.
“The market certainly reacted to Qunar’s data, which show the company’s mobile users have risen,” Tian X. Hou, the founder of T.H. Capital LLC, said by phone in New York Dec. 3. “China’s travel market has just started to boom and both companies will ride the tide.”
The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI:US), the largest Chinese exchange-traded fund in the U.S., retreated 4 percent last week to $36.66 in New York. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.5 percent.
Growth Momentum
Qunar’s American depositary receipts surged to $29.92, with trading volumes almost seven times the 90-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ctrip’s ADRs sank to $45.53 in New York, falling the most since Nov. 6. Its 13 percent drop last week was the biggest since Nov. 22.
Qunar’s air ticketing record demonstrates growth momentum in its mobile reservations, which is encouraging, according to Henry Guo, an analyst at ABR Investment Strategy LLC who has buy ratings for both companies.
“Those online travel agencies will compete more aggressively in January as we draw close to the Lunar New Year holiday,” Guo said by phone Jan. 3 from San Francisco.
Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc., China’s largest budget hotel chain operator, sank 4 percent last week to $41.94, the biggest slump since June. The Lunar New Year holidays are set to start on Jan. 31.
Yingli Surges
Yingli, the biggest solar-panel maker, rallied 38 percent last week to $6.61, rising the most since November 2012. It was the biggest weekly gainer on the China-US gauge.
Average prices for polysilicon, the key raw material for making solar panels, climbed to the highest level since October 2012, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
Yingli also gained after announcing a joint venture with Datong Coal Mine Group to develop and construct solar power plants in China’s northern Shanxi province. Vishal Shah, a New York-based analyst at Deutsche Bank AG, said the joint venture is “an incremental positive” in an e-mailed report on Jan. 2.
YY Inc. (YY:US), the Guangzhou-based owner of a social entertainment website, soared 15 percent last week to $58.02 in New York, the highest level since its U.S. debut in November 2012.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index in Hong Kong dropped 3.6 percent last week to 10,436.76, the largest weekly decline since October. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) sank 0.9 percent for the week to 2,083.14.
To contact the reporter on this story: Belinda Cao in New York at [email protected]
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