Trip.com Group (TCOM) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending December 31, 2022

March 6, 2023 7:00 p.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Trip.com Group 2022 Q4 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. I’d now like to hand the call over to your first speaker today, Ms. Michelle Qi, Senior IR Director. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Michelle Qi

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to Trip.com Group’s fourth quarter of 2022 earnings conference call. Joining me today on the call are Mr. James Liang, Executive Chairman of the Board; Ms. Jane Sun, Chief Executive Officer; and Ms. Cindy Wang, Chief Financial Officer.

During this call, we will discuss our future outlook and performance which are forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, our results may be materially different from the views expressed today. A number of potential risks and uncertainties are outlined in Trip.com Group’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trip.com Group does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law.

James, Jane and Cindy will share our strategy and business updates, operating highlights and financial performance for the fourth quarter of 2022 as well as the outlook of the first quarter of 2023. After the prepared remarks, we will have a Q&A session.

With that, I will turn the call over to James. James, please.

James Liang

Thank you, Michelle. Thank you everyone for joining us on the call today. This 2022 market [ph] aimed to 3-year cost utilities rate of COVID-19 pandemic Trip.com Group has once again successfully overcome the difficulties and China crisis into opportunity, just like what we did 20 years ago with SARS. In the fourth quarter, while China’s domestic travel market was still overshadowed by pandemic resurgence in the fourth quarter, I am delighted to see steady improvements in overseas markets. Overall, hotel bookings on our global platform, has outperformed the pre-pandemic level for four consecutive quarters.

On a constant currency basis, overall air ticketing revenue for our global platforms in Q4 has also fully recovered to the pre-pandemic level. Demand for China’s outbound travel surged in Q4. Searches for outbound flights departing from Mainland China hit a 3-year peak following the downgrade of COVID-19 to a Class B infectious disease and China’s reopening in December. Such encouraging data reveals increasing consumer confidence in the travel industry globally. Again, since the announcement of China’s reopening, we have seen strong travel demands across our various business lines. Our domestic hotel bookings and air bookings have already surpassed the 2019 level.