LONDON, England – Entrepreneur James Liang has won a prestigious World Travel Market 2014 World Travel Leaders Award in recognition of the huge impact his online travel agency Ctrip.com has made on the Chinese travel industry.
The Awards give WTMโs Official Media Partners โ which represent key travel industry media around the world โ an excellent platform to congratulate and recognise those companies and individuals which have made significant contributions to travel and tourism in their region or sector.
Three nominations from each of WTMโs media partners were judged in September by a panel of three, consisting of an independent body, a representative of WTM and the relevant media partner.
Since Liang founded Ctrip in 1999, it has become one of the most successful internet companies in China, and listed on NASDAQ in 2003.
The company has moved with the fast pace of global tourism as China has become the largest and fastest growing market in the world. The companyโs โCtrip travellingโ app has 100 million registered users.
Liang is a professor of economics at Beijing University, has a PhD in Economics from Stanford University and is a published author.
Geoffrey Breeze, Marketing Director, World Travel and Tourism Council, said: โAt its simplest, Ctrip is not just the number-one online travel agent in China, but arguably itโs the most influential OTA (online travel agent) worldwide โ or soon will be.โ
Every year, World Travel Leaders Awards are presented at WTM. The full list of 2014 winners is:
Brazil: Eduardo Nascimento, President of Nascimento Turismo Operadora
China: James Liang, Chairman and CEO of Ctrip.com
India: Jehangir Katgara, Chairman & Managing Director of TBI Trail Blazer Tours India Private Limited
Italy: Venetian Villas
Portugal: Andrรฉ Jordan, Founder of the Andrรฉ Jordan Group
Russia: Association of Tour Operators
Spain: Turespaรฑa
Travolution/technology: David Speakman, Chairman, Travel Counsellors
UK: EasyJet
Middle East: The Gulf Hotel Bahrain
USA: Roger Dow, CEO, US Travel
Canada: Air Canada