Live-stream selling is reshaping travel

Multi-million-dollar game changer - Selling travel experiences and packages over live streaming has gone mainstream, increasing engagement between companies and customers

- Sarah Stanley

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Shanghai-headquartered travel company Trip.com Group generated more than US$360 million (S$485 million) in gross monetary value in just seven months from selling travel products via live streaming.

Donning a different traditional Chinese costume for each episode, executive chairman and co-founder of Trip.com Group James Liang hosted the marathon broadcasts—each lasting between two and four hours—alongside company staff and industry representatives.

To keep the live stream entertaining, Mr Liang incorporated Chinese performance arts such as the Sichuan "face-changing" opera, comedy skits, and song-and-dance gigs, while selling travel products like hotels, flights, holiday packages and tourist attraction tickets.

Live-stream selling—the fusion of e-commerce and live streaming—is changing how people experience and plan travel.

Driven by the rise of social media and increased screen time, live-stream selling has become a powerful sales channel, allowing travel brands to engage audiences in real time and drive bookings instantly.

Trip.com Group's earnings were impressive at a time when the tourism industry was among the hardest hit by diminished cross-border movement.

The live-stream episodes showcasing destinations and travel products from the group's partners in Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and Japan proved so popular, they drew more than 150 million international viewers.

In those pandemic years, many other travel companies also took to live streaming to stay connected with their consumers.

Klook, for example, came up with the live-streaming initiative Klook Live in September 2020 so its users could interact directly with its brand partners, redeem promotion codes and book activities immediately.