Travel review website TripAdvisor has announced that it is buying Kuxun.cn, a Chinese flight and hotel search engine, as it taps into a burgeoning tourism market buoyed by China's resilient economy.
TripAdvisor chief executive told media that the company plans to invest more than USD50 million in China by the end of 2011. The budget includes buying Kuxun.cn, its own Chinese travel-review website, Daodao.com, which was launched in April 2009, and hiring more staff in China.
Kaufer said that TripAdvisor will probably double the number of staff working on both websites in China to 160 over the next year, up from the current 80 — although he added that the company hasn't reviewed this plan. Over the next two years, it aims to double the number of visitors to Kuxun.cn and Daodao.com. According to the company Daodao.com already had 4 million unique visitors by September 2009.
Kuxun.cn enables users to compare airfares and hotel room prices from various sellers, while Daodao.com allows users to review and read reviews of hotels and travel destinations.
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