By Sophie Taylor
SEOUL (Reuters) - Qunar.com, which bills itself as China's third-largest travel search engine firm, said on Tuesday it was hoping to finalize talks over a possible joint venture in Japan by the end of this year.
Qunar -- Chinese for "Where are you going?" -- was also in talks for a similar tie-up in South Korea, though they were at a much more preliminary stage, Chief Executive Fritz Demopoulos said at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit.
"We are discussing with a range of potential partners -- big players with some Internet assets," he said.
Qunar -- which is expected to break even consistently in 2008, rather than inconsistently at present -- may also seek a public listing in 2010 or 2011, either in Hong Kong or on the U.S. tech-heavy Nasdaq, said Demopoulos.
The Web site (www.qunar.com) had 5 million unique visitors last month, he added.
Qunar -- which is backed by venture funds GSR Ventures and Mayfield -- was co-founded two years ago by Demopoulos, a Chinese technology industry veteran, and provides pricing information for travel services.
China's online travel services sector is dominated by Ctrip.com (CTRP.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which is part-owned by Japanese online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. (4755.Q: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
But while Qunar.com offers a platform for price comparisons, with consumers directly contacting the hotels or airways, Ctrip.com plays a role as agent.
Other players in the China's online travel space include eLong Inc. (LONG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), in which U.S. online travel giant Expedia Inc. (EXPE.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has a majority stake.
China's online travel industry is poised to take off, analysts have said, because authorities are asking airlines and travel agencies to offer electronic air tickets instead of paper ones by the end of 2007.
China in 2003 also began a scheme to allow mainland Chinese from authorized cities to travel to Hong Kong as individual visitors.
Consumers in China prefer to sort out information for themselves, Demopoulos said, adding that Qunar would never become the middleman.
Qunar, which makes most of its income from advertising fees, also has agreements with Hilton Hotels Corp. HLT.N, Intercontinental Hotels (IHG.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and China's flagship carrier Air China Ltd. (601111.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
The companies provide pricing and availability information to Qunar, which leads customers directly to their Web sites for booking. The partnership between Air China and Qunar is the first time that a major airline in China has elected to work with a travel search engine, Demopoulos said.
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