The photograph illustrates the new smart phone app 'Uber' logo displayed on a mobile phone next to a taxi on July 1, 2014 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo : Getty Images/David Ramos)
Uber China has introduced a new travel app, dubbed Uber+Travel, with a view to get a larger share of industry in the face of stiff competition from Didi Chuxing. With the launch of the app on June 15, Uber China has also shared its customer pool with local travel companies.
With rising income levels and more relaxed visa polices, Uber China sees vast opportunities in the flourishing Chinese tourism market. In fact, the company has observed that the number of overseas visitors to China increased 10-fold during the 2015 Spring Festival Holiday.
Even the middle class in China has been traveling a lot these days. This is reflected in the 53% increase in spending in outbound travel expenditure since 2014 and 21% hike in leisure tourism spending since 2013, Forbes reported quoting the World Travel and Tourism Council. Even online bookings witnessed a 39.9% rise from 2014.
Keeping this latest development in view, Uber China has partnered with Hainan Airlines, Baidu, Tongcheng Tourism, JD.com, Qunar.com, and China Telecom with a view to assimilate various stages of a trip. The company plans to integrate every aspect from ticketing to hotel reservation, local commutes to selecting an overseas phone plan, all into one app.
Henceforth, different travel companies will rely on Uber for car services between places of interest and also make travel easier for tourists. The partnership will be mutually beneficial; Qunar.com vice-president Zhou Qiang told the publication. Zhou believed that all Uber drivers possess the potential to turn out to be excellent local tour guides.
According to local Chinese media, apparently the launch of Uber+Travel is an indication that Uber China is deliberately moving away from any direct confrontation with Didi Chuxing in the country's car-hailing market. Uber China has been facing fierce competition local car-hailing companies since its launch in Shanghai in February 2014.
Soon after Uber launched its services in China, two largest local car-hailing companies, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache merged to form Didi Chuxing in 2015 intensifying the competition in the car rental field further. Interestingly enough, the Head of Uber, Liu Zhen, is Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu cousin.
The relationship notwithstanding, Uber China and Didi Chixing are both backed by big players. While Apple, Alibaba and Tencent Holdings have invested in Didi Chuxing, Uber China has become the default car-hailing provider on Baidu Map, which has over 300 million active users in addition to 70% market share.
Meanwhile, Didi Chuxing president Jean Liu has welcomed the competition. Competition is welcome as it makes a company stronger, CNN quoted Liu telling them during an interview. Citing examples, Liu said if one look at the top Chinese companies like Alibaba and Tencent Holdings, they will find the competition has helped them to grow. Competition helps one to improve and at the end of the day the best player wins, Liu added.
Watch Uber's fight to win China below:
