As the founder of Ctrip，Liang Jianzhang’s other identity is a demographer，After stepping down as CEO in 2016，His comments in newspapers are more about population and social development。But starting from May 2018，It is rare for him to continuously speak out on the topic of Ctrip’s values。

In an open letter to Ctrip shareholders jointly signed by Ctrip CEO Sun Jie and Chairman Liang Jianzhang，The two top leaders of Ctrip emphasized，“Customer-centric” is Ctrip’s core value。

Not long ago, Ctrip’s 2018 first quarter financial report telephone communication conference，Liang Jianzhang once again emphasized the above values ​​to analysts，And stated that "customer value will not be sacrificed to increase short-term profits"。

Always talk about values，It often means there may be a problem with values。

Ctrip is indeed encountering a crisis involving the torture of values，In the past period，User complaints about Ctrip occur frequently，It has evolved into public opinion incidents of various sizes on many occasions，This has caused Ctrip's reputation and brand to lose ground at the public level - although in the eyes of many professionals，Ctrip still provides the best service in China、Online travel platform with the best price。

2017 is a dark year for Ctrip，The bundled sales and parent-child park incidents have seriously affected its internal and external reputation，Entering 2018，The trouble is not over yet，User complaints still occur from time to time，These cases continue to damage Ctrip’s brand and reputation。

In the past three years，A series of capital operations have made Ctrip the well-deserved leader in China’s online travel market，But while enjoying the growth dividends brought by scale expansion，Ctrip also paid a corresponding price。A series of seemingly accidental public opinion events，Not only triggered widespread doubts about Ctrip among users，Also exposed the difficulties and limitations of Ctrip’s current growth model。

In profit and reputation、Between growth and experience，Ctrip is experiencing the troubles of being the market leader。

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The danger brought by the pressure of external public opinion has now been transformed into actual figures and presented to Ctrip’s leaders。

In the latest first quarter financial report，Ctrip delivered a good result: net revenue in the first quarter increased by 11% year-on-year，9% month-on-month increase；The net profit attributable to the company’s shareholders is RMB 1.1 billion (approximately 1.USD 7 billion)，In comparison, the net profit attributable to shareholders in the same period last year was RMB 52 million，The net profit attributable to shareholders in the last quarter was RMB 3.5 billion yuan，A year-on-year increase of 20 times。

But hidden worries also exist: the first quarter，Ctrip transportation ticketing service business in this quarter was the same as the same period last year，Down 1% compared to the previous quarter。

As one of Ctrip’s two major revenue sources，Transportation ticketing revenue remained flat year-on-year、A month-on-month decrease is definitely 188bet app download not a good sign，In the context of changes in industry rules，The profit margin of this business, which accounts for a significant proportion of revenue, is also constantly being compressed。

Previously in order to seek profits from traffic ticketing，Ctrip has been trapped in bundled sales many times、Amid complaints about abnormal refund and change fees。October last year，An article about Ctrip’s bundled sales plunged it into a huge public opinion crisis，Under pressure，Ctrip has adjusted the purchase process: launching the "ordinary booking" mode，In this mode，User needs to watch 5 seconds of advertisement。

Although the experience is not smooth，But allowing users to watch ads in the "normal booking" mode is already the biggest improvement Ctrip can make。At a Ctrip advertising resources briefing held in the first half of this year，This location was named "OTA's unique ticket center page" and was promoted to customers by Ctrip.。

Ctrip advertising resource display

With such painstaking design, Ctrip has its own frustrations.

First half of 2016，Qunar encountered collective ban by airlines，Later progress display，The collective pressure on airlines to go to Qunar is just a prelude to changes in ticket sales policies。

According to the new ticket agency policy issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China that year，The "back and forth return" policy for domestic air ticket agency fees has been cancelled，Air ticket agency fees enter the "zero commission" era，New policy changes the sales channels and profit distribution methods of airline ticket management，The profit margin of ticketing agents further shrinks。

simultaneously，Under the new regulations that strictly prohibit ticket agencies from selling standard air ticket products through third-party channels，The platform model that was previously popular among OTAs (that is, including ticket sales agents selling tickets directly to users) has also been destroyed。As ticket agents on OTA are cleared，Now you can sell tickets on OTA，In addition to the official airline flagship store，It is the OTA itself that has obtained the qualification to sell tickets。

Overall，The channel’s sales rebate has been cancelled，The model of collecting service commissions from agents under the OTA platform model no longer exists。Under dual effects，The profit margin of OTA ticket sales has been greatly compressed。

Affected by this，Ctrip once pinned its hopes of making profits from its transportation ticketing business on bundled sales，But this approach led to strong backlash from users and eventually had to make changes。Selling advertising space resources under normal reservation mode，Just an attempt by Ctrip to recover the corresponding losses。

Ctrip 2017 fourth quarter financial report display，Affected by product adjustments，Transportation ticketing revenue fell 15% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter，The first quarter financial report shows that the impact of adjustments is still continuing，This exposes Ctrip’s current development dilemma - when Ctrip slightly shifts its focus to user experience，Their revenue was immediately affected。

The difficulties in the air ticket business are a microcosm of the development status of this old OTA in recent years: the scale dividend brought by merging competitors cannot be sustained，The business structure has not yet undergone major upgrades，In order to maintain continued growth，The simplest way is to try our best to improve the revenue and profitability of traditional business，This will inevitably conflict with user experience。

A similar situation also exists in another major business accommodation booking。

The difficult balance

Ctrip’s proud high-star 188bet online sports betting hotel business encountered a major public opinion crisis not long ago。April this year，Investigative reporter Wang Zhian complained on Weibo about Ctrip’s negligence in hotel classification due to poor hotel hygiene，And control hotel sorting through bidding ranking，Interfering with user selection。

Based on the trial of "Deep Web"，Currently，Ctrip uses three evaluation criteria to position hotels，Respectively: star indicators (divided into two stars and below/economy、Samsung/Comfortable、Four-star/high-end and five-star/luxury four-level)、User rating system and Ctrip special/gold/silver/bronze hotel system。

Worked at Ctrip and Ctrip competitors，Later founded the Orange Hotel，Wu Hai, CEO of Orange Hotel, who has many years of experience in the online tourism industry, introduced to "Shenzhen Net"，Ctrip’s star index mainly examines hardware，Ctrip staff will inspect it，But for services other than hardware，Wu Hai thinks，The service itself is difficult to inspect on site，Customer ratings are a more important reference standard。

Wang Jing, chief commercial officer of Global Travel News who has many years of experience in the hotel industry, thinks，If the event itself is viewed in a shallow sense，The hotel’s responsibility will be greater。

Although in the eyes of industry insiders，Ctrip had no major fault in this incident，The hotel is the one who should really bear the responsibility，But such a voice can easily be ignored。Similar incident，No matter who is the biggest responsible person，Ctrip often ends up being the one who really gets the short end of the stick。

In reality, this embarrassing situation happens repeatedly.

The choice between profit and experience，This is the main reason why Ctrip fell into such a passive situation。

Ctrip has indeed made the greatest efforts on hotel ratings and user rating systems，This system has even become the standard for domestic OTA hotel business，But at the same time，There are other rules that profoundly affect user choices。

If a hotel wants to appear at the top of Ctrip’s search page，Then you need to sign an exclusive cooperation with Ctrip，Second, accept high commissions。After reaching the above agreement with Ctrip，This hotel can become Ctrip’s special/gold medal hotel，Enjoy recommendations with higher weight in search results，Get more traffic。

Search rankings directly affect the quality of hotel business.

Mr. Wang, who is an inn and B&B agent in Xiamen, told "Shenzhen Net"，“The top five on the first page of the search results will make you vomit，If you go to the third page，A dozen orders a month is a big deal，further on，Same as winning the lottery。”

The top-ranked hotels on Ctrip’s mobile app are all special/gold medal hotels

Traffic means occupancy，Occupancy rate means revenue，This is another set of rules set by Ctrip for hotels that are different from star ratings and user ratings，In this set of rules，The most important factor to consider is the amount of benefits a hotel can provide to Ctrip。

Mr. Wang said，Good hotels are not keen on getting Ctrip’s special/gold medals，Because a hotel that doesn’t have to worry about selling would not be willing to pay such a high commission。Therefore，Hotel quality、Positive rating is not an important consideration for special cards/gold medals，Are you willing to sign an exclusive agreement with Ctrip、Paying high commissions is the most important threshold。

In Ctrip’s complex business landscape，Rules like this help it and resource parties gain maximum benefits for themselves in a single transaction，These interests are aggregated into data in Ctrip’s financial report，Supported this behemoth to obtain various indicators 188bet online sports betting year-on-year、Continuous growth from month to month，This will further boost the stock price。

In the past five years，Ctrip’s stock price has climbed from more than 10 US dollars to more than 40 US dollars today，It once reached more than 60 US dollars during the peak period。From the perspective of stock price performance，Ctrip has achieved commercial success，However, frequent user complaints reflect this，This is the largest online travel company in the Chinese market，Under test。

Like two ends of a scale，One is the hotel rating and user rating system developed to optimize the experience，The other end is the special card/gold medal system launched to maximize profits，Where does the balance tilt，Depends on Ctrip’s own choice。

However, as the OTA leader that has landed in the US capital market，There are many factors affecting Ctrip’s balanced game。

The boss’s troubleannoyed

Just one week before Ctrip released its first quarter financial report，Meituan Travel vigorously spreads the news that its hotel room nights exceed Ctrip’s total for the first time。Based on the information provided by Meituan，March 2018，Meituan Hotel surpassed Ctrip for the first time with 22.7 million room nights in a single month、Where to go、Total of Tongcheng Yilong。simultaneously，First quarter of 2018，Meituan Hotel with a total order volume of 57.7 million，Ranked first in the industry。

Meituan enters the travel industry

Meituan attributes its victory to two points: younger users，User growth in third- and fourth-tier cities is rapid；Meituan-Dianping’s “food, accommodation, travel, shopping and entertainment” platform has obvious advantages。

Ctrip did not respond to Meituan’s unilateral “provocation”，But in the previous rounds of air-to-air dialogue between the two parties，Weak profitability has always been an important basis for Ctrip to attack Meituan’s wine and travel business。

Sustained profitability is regarded as core competitiveness by Ctrip executives，Ctrip CFO Wang Xiaofan once told "Shenzhen Net"，“China’s online travel (industry)，Ctrip may be the only company with sustained profitability，Almost no second company has a sustained profit，Maybe it’s hard to say whether it’s even profitable，I think it also proves that our barriers are actually quite high。”

In addition to profit，Scale is also regarded by Wang Xiaofan as one of Ctrip’s core competitiveness，"With a certain scale，Maybe you are in the entire supply chain、Negotiation of the industrial chain，There will be a certain degree of dominance，After，You can get better products and prices，With these best products and services，We will be able to attract more guests，This is a forward cycle。”

Ctrip, which has achieved a leading position in the market, is indeed operating and growing with this logic，But this model is not completely without cost。

Regarding the public opinion issues Ctrip has encountered in recent years，A veteran in the travel industry with many years of experience thinks，What seems like an accident actually reflects that Ctrip is busy harvesting the market，Failure to improve the development level of the entire industry based on the current industry status。

This is particularly evident in Ctrip’s traditional advantage business hotels。

He Qiang, who is engaged in hotel distribution business, feels this deeply，“After Ctrip merged with Elong and Qunar，Open the internal system，Stronger bargaining power，Unscrupulous，The hotel is very passive。”

Introduction to He Qiang，Ctrip’s control of hotels relies heavily on its platform strategy，"Under the platform strategy，Ctrip through direct procurement、Wholesaler、Third-party 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino suppliers, etc.，Get prices from different channels，If the price from other channels is better than the price directly purchased from Ctrip，Ctrip threatens traffic，Get a good price。This directly penetrates the hotel’s price system。”

Special brand/gold medal system brings more profit margins to Ctrip，"Disobedient，Suppression based on ranking，such as Huazhu、Marriott。”Under the strong KPI orientation，The special card/gold medal system has hidden risks in actual operation，“At a certain stage, profit assessment is too much，Not paying attention to hotel service quality，It’s easy to have problems。”

“Now the entire hotel industry is working for Ctrip。"He Qiang sighed。Because of this，Competitors are like flying pigs、Meituan’s new products and strategies have been welcomed by the hotel industry。

Not everyone disagrees with Ctrip’s approach，In Wang Jing’s opinion，Ctrip’s approach is a reasonable choice under commercial competition，There is no right or wrong。As a profit-oriented social and economic organization，The primary factor to consider is whether it can continue to return investors from a capital perspective，“China’s current society is winner-take-all，Everything keeps getting bigger，Continuously return returns to shareholders，If you were the boss of Ctrip，In front of such an algorithm，What can you do？I think you basically don’t have the ability to do anything on your own。”

Efficient operation ensures that Ctrip maintains continued growth and profitability through its scale advantage，This is Ctrip’s proud armor，But it has also become its weakness to a certain extent - despite being attacked by Ctrip, its profitability is weak，But this is precisely the reason why Meituan was able to launch a fierce attack on Ctrip in the hotel business。

December last year，Former Senior Vice President of Ctrip Group、Ground Transportation CEO Chen Gang was appointed as Qunar CEO，Former CEO Chen Zhenyu will be promoted to chairman of Qunar.com。A Ctrip insider told "Deepnet"，An important purpose of this adjustment is to strictly manage Qunar’s revenue and expenditure，Qunar has suffered huge losses in the past few years。

On Ctrip’s big plate，Qunar is a company that originally believed in big investment、Big output，A company that uses aggressive market strategies to hold high and beat high，Now my hands and feet are tied，Input-output ratio becomes a more important consideration。This is Ctrip’s inevitable choice to stop bleeding，The consequence is that it provides an excellent opportunity for Meituan to attack mid- to low-end hotels in third- and fourth-tier cities。

The above person stated，“People who are going somewhere don’t know what to do now，The offline advantages accumulated by Zhuang Chenchao in the mid- to low-end hotel business，Is being chased or even overtaken by Meituan。”

Being the leader in China’s online travel market，Ctrip’s situation is stuck in an awkward position due to user experience and competitive needs，Dilemma。Temporary adjustments or compromises are ultimately a delaying measure，Ctrip needs to find a real solution。

Ctrip’s way out

According to "Deep Web"，There are dark public opinion events in 2017 ahead，Ctrip has increased the budget of the group’s marketing public relations department this year，Hope to increase corresponding investment，Try your best to prevent negative public opinion incidents from happening。Ctrip’s public relations department has also established a special team to monitor the public opinion of big V，In order to be similar to Han Xue、Wang Zhian and other celebrities posted Weibo attacks on Ctrip and triggered greater publicity, nipped in the bud。

In parallel with this，188bet app There are also adjustments made internally by Ctrip。Not long ago，While releasing the financial report for the first quarter of 2018，Ctrip has made internal personnel and organizational structure adjustments。

According to an internal email released by CEO Sun Jie，Ctrip will establish an independent Chenglu Rating Committee，The goal is from the customer’s perspective、With a neutral attitude for the hotel、Gourmet、Objective and comprehensive rating of scenic spots and other tourism products。Zhang Rong, Vice President of Ctrip Group, will serve as Chairman of Chenglv Rating Committee，Report directly to Sun Jie。Meishulin CEO Liu Xiaozhou will serve as the Executive Secretary-General of Chenglv Rating Committee，Report to Zhang Rong。

Ctrip CEO Sun Jie

It can be seen from the reporting relationship，The soon-to-be-established Chenglv Rating Committee has a high internal status。Sun Jie said in an internal email，“Zhang Rong made great military exploits，His in-depth experience and unique insights in the tourism industry can greatly help the Chenglu Rating Committee effectively shape industry standards、Establish a standardized customer evaluation system。”

This is an email that has not been sent to all Ctrip employees，Once the Chenglu Rating Committee can truly exert influence on the business department，That will mean a change in Ctrip’s operating model。

Ctrip seems to have released enough determination，But regarding the actual effects that this initiative may have，Some people in the industry still hold a wait-and-see attitude: Although Liang Jianzhang、Sun Jie has publicly stated that she “will not sacrifice customer value to increase short-term profits”，But under the pressure of capital market，How much sacrifice can Ctrip make for customer value，Still an unknown number。

For Ctrip，The fundamental way to solve the problem is to find new growth points for yourself。Past years，To stimulate internal innovation vitality，Ctrip executives promoted organizational structure reform，Developed internal innovation mechanism Little Tiger Plan。Travel Food List Food Forest、Domestic self-operated private car business similar to Didi、Train ticket, bus ticket business, etc.，These are all new attempts by Ctrip，However, only from the financial report data，It will still take time for the little tigers to make real contributions to Ctrip。

There are also high hopes for the international strategy，Ctrip once achieved rapid growth in a short period of time by acquiring Skyscanner, one of the world's largest air ticket search platforms，To really eat the big cake of the international tourism market，It is far from as simple as investment and merger。

Different from Ctrip’s brand image that has mixed reviews，As the soul of Ctrip，Liang Jianzhang is almost one of the few people in the industry who has zero negative reviews，This is not only due to his legendary experience of helping Ctrip in crisis and withdrawing for the second time，What’s more, it lies in his long-term public sentiment for advocating for China’s population issues。

Liang Jianzhang has always had greater expectations for Ctrip，At Ctrip’s 15th anniversary celebration in January 2015，Liang Jianzhang said，In the next few years，Ctrip will become the fastest growing e-commerce company in China，More than JD.com、Tmall、Taobao is only a matter of time，But investors are far from realizing the value of Ctrip。

Last three years，Ctrip has enjoyed the scale dividend brought by the unified OTA market with the help of capital means，But on the way to “becoming the fastest growing e-commerce company in China”，A series of negative outbursts show that Ctrip’s biggest enemy has become itself，In the new game field，Ctrip executives who believe in numbers must introduce new variables。

(At the request of the interviewee, He Qiang’s pseudonym in this article is changed)

*Source of this article:WeChat publicPublic account "Tencent Deep 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino Network" (ID: qqshenwang), Author: Han Yimin,Original title:《Frequent crises, what happened to Ctrip, the leader of online travel》.