Trip.com Group Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Trip.com’s Q2 revenue rose 6% year over year to RMB15.7 billion, with international operations helping offset higher fuel prices, airfares, geopolitical uncertainty and softer transportation demand.
• International OTA revenue grew more than 50%, while inbound travel to China increased at a high-double-digit rate. Premium and customized travel were especially strong, with first- and business-class bookings up over 70% and customized tours up 600%.
• Trip.com is investing heavily in global expansion and AI, as TripGenie-assisted orders surged about 400%; the company is also restructuring partner distribution and hotel-ranking systems following a one-time RMB5.18 billion SAMR-related expense.

Trip.com Group NASDAQ: TCOM reported second-quarter 2026 net revenue of RMB15.7 billion, up 6% from a year earlier, as international travel operations expanded despite a more difficult operating environment marked by elevated fuel prices, airfares and geopolitical uncertainty.

Executive Chairman James Liang said higher travel costs weighed more heavily on long-haul demand, while travelers shifted toward shorter-haul destinations. Still, he said travel demand remained resilient and the company continues to view globalization and “great quality” as the two pillars of its long-term G2 strategy.

Chief Executive Officer Jane Sun said inbound travel to China remained one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses, with revenue rising by a high-double-digit percentage year over year. Asia-Pacific remained the main source region for inbound visitors, including travelers from South Korea and Southeast Asia. The company said visitors are increasingly traveling beyond China’s traditional eastern coastal destinations and seeking cultural, culinary and other immersive experiences.

Trip.com said it aims to serve 200 million inbound travelers over the next five years through investments in the inbound travel ecosystem, local partnerships, multilingual services and destination visibility.

International platform growth offsets travel pressures

Revenue from the company’s international online travel agency platform increased more than 50% year over year during the quarter, supported by higher transaction values and a favorable mix, Sun said. The company cited growing demand for premium and customized travel products: First- and business-class flight bookings on Trip.com rose more than 70% in the first half of 2026, while customized tour bookings increased 600%.

Sun said the international business is becoming more geographically diverse. Asia-Pacific remains its largest contributor to growth, while Europe and the Americas grew faster from smaller bases. Mobile bookings exceeded 70% of total bookings, reaching a new high, according to the company.

While flight demand faced pressure from reduced capacity and higher prices, average booking values helped offset part of that impact, Sun said. Accommodation continued to post strong growth, while attractions and packaged products also maintained strong momentum. She added that the Trip.com brand delivered meaningful margin improvement in the quarter through marketing efficiencies, scale and improved flight economics.

The company plans to continue expanding local supply and brand awareness across Asia-Pacific and other global markets, while maintaining what Sun described as disciplined, return-on-investment-focused marketing.

Domestic demand supported by holidays and entertainment

Within China, Trip.com said domestic travel demand remained robust, aided by the Qingming, May Day and Dragon Boat Festival holidays, as well as the rollout of spring-break programs. In pilot cities for spring break, family travel bookings and spending each rose more than 300% year over year, roughly five times the growth rate of non-family travelers, the company said.

Trip.com also reported an increase in demand for lower-density and less traditional destinations, including short-haul trips, city breaks, rural leisure and educational travel. Travelers are increasingly seeking trips that combine accommodations, transportation, dining, culture and local activities, Sun said.

Entertainment continued to become a larger travel catalyst. Gross bookings in Trip.com’s entertainment business increased more than 80% year over year in the second quarter. Seven of every 10 event tickets booked on its platform during the first half were associated with cross-city travel, while more than one-third of travelers stayed an extra night for an event, the company said.

Financial results and regulatory measures

Chief Financial Officer Cindy Wang said accommodation reservation revenue rose 6% to RMB6.6 billion. Excluding a contra-revenue item connected to an administrative penalty imposed by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, accommodation revenue would have risen 8%.

• Transportation ticketing revenue declined 1% to RMB5.4 billion, reflecting softer demand, higher fuel prices, geopolitical tensions and compliance-related operational adjustments.
• Package tour revenue increased 8% to RMB1.2 billion, supported by international OTA growth and customized tours.
• Corporate travel revenue rose 11% to RMB771 million, as the company expanded managed travel services among corporate clients.
• Adjusted sales and marketing expense increased 15%, primarily due to marketing investment for global expansion.

Wang said the company recorded RMB5.18 billion in expense and RMB122 million in contra-revenue during the quarter related to the SAMR matter. She characterized both as one-time items that did not reflect underlying operating performance.

Excluding share-based compensation and the SAMR anti-monopoly penalty, adjusted EBITDA was RMB4.6 billion, compared with RMB4.9 billion a year earlier. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ordinary share were RMB7.27, or $1.07 per ADS, compared with RMB7.20 in the prior-year quarter, excluding specified investment, note valuation and tax items as well as share-based compensation and the penalty.

As of June 30, Trip.com held RMB100.5 billion, or $14.8 billion, in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments, held-to-maturity time deposits and financial products.

AI investments and partner framework

Management said artificial intelligence is becoming a larger part of travel discovery, search, booking and service. AI-assisted orders through TripGenie rose about 400% year over year, and nearly 60% of TripGenie interactions were booking-related across hotels, flights and attractions, Liang said.

The company rolled out a fully AI-powered search capability during the second quarter and said it is also exploring partnerships with AI platforms and agent-to-agent collaboration. Wang said AI-related capital expenditures are expected to rise in the near term as Trip.com expands computing infrastructure, but investments should remain manageable because the company is focused on applications and post-training refinement rather than building foundational models from scratch.

Following the SAMR decision, Trip.com said it is discontinuing its tier-one and tier-two distribution programs and moving partners to a new multi-tiered framework. The company said it has also revised hotel ranking algorithms to place more emphasis on genuine service and guest satisfaction, alongside customer feedback, product competitiveness, information quality and historical conversion rates.

Sun said the transition could create some volatility in domestic performance as partners adapt to the new operating model. Over the longer term, Wang said the company expects international operations to account for a growing share of group revenue and incremental growth.

About Trip.com Group (NASDAQ:TCOM)

Trip.com Group Limited NASDAQ: TCOM is a global online travel services company headquartered in China. Originally founded as Ctrip in 1999, the company has expanded its operations and brands to serve travelers in China and international markets.

Through its Trip.com, Ctrip, Qunar and Skyscanner platforms, Trip.com Group provides hotel and accommodation bookings, transportation reservations, including air, rail and car services, vacation packages, guided tours and other travel-related products.

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