Cendant TDS' latest market survey shows that the bills of 30% of online hotel reservations in China have not been fulfilled due to the lack of credit card popularization and relevant measures taken by travel service providers to certify the payment.
According to the conventions of online booking, bookers need to pay for their hotel rooms with a credit card during booking and when they fail to stay in the hotel, a night's fee will be deducted from their card as a compensation for canceling the reservation.
However, because online payment with a credit card in China is not so well popularized and Chinese online service providers have not made relevant measures to ensure the payment to be duly fulfilled, they lose money when the bookers withdraw the booking.
The survey also shows that China's online travel service providers have been exaggerating their online booking service, which only accounts for 20% of country's travel industry.
The survey says one of the major factors that threaten online booking is the ever declining commission that online service providers get from airline companies.
The online travel sector is about to heat up as next month's Spring Festival holiday draws travelers to hotels around China. Online travel companies like eLong.com and Ctrip.com plan on making good income during this period.