Online travel firms set to lock horns

Online travel firms are set to up the ante with a slew of promotional prices and other incentives as the battle to grab a slice of the huge outbound tourism pie in China intensifies, industry sources said on Thursday.

Ctrip.com International Ltd, China's largest online travel agency in terms of market value, plans to invest 1 billion yuan ($162.47 million) next year to take on the competition, according to Liang Jianzhang, its chairman and chief executive.

The company will launch a huge promotion laced with special discounts on Dec 12 and make it an annual event, Liang said, with an eye on growing market share and profit.