Shanghai-based CTrip.com (NasdaqNM:CTRP), a provider of online hotel bookings and airline reservations in China, appears to have either forgotten to renew the domain name it uses for the English-language part of its site, or has shut down that part of its Internet business.
The domain name, gotochina.com, expired on March 2, 2004, and was the English-language portal address used by Ctrip.com to sell hotel and airline bookings to tourists from outside of China.
In recent months, China-bound tourists have complained on discussion lists and bulletin boards that the ticket prices on CTrip.com's English-language portal were often much higher than similar tickets on the Chinese-language side of the website, prompting some to complain of price gouging of foreign tourists to China.
Requests for more information from Ctrip.com about this situation went unanswered and the Shanghai-based firm has not returned phone calls for more information.
