Seeking to tap into the ubiquitous use of MSN Messenger among Chinese professionals, Chinese online travel service provider Yoee.com has launched a MSN bot travel ticketing system to extend its sales network.

From now on, MSN users will be able to communicate with Yoee's bot to book air tickets, inquire about flight schedules, find hotels and receive travel instructions after they add [email protected] to their contact list.

The bot is an automated program that assists Yoee's reservations staff to communicate directly with consumers via the MSN Messenger application.

Last year, China's travel industry generated about US$525 billion, but only about $5-6 billion was attributed to online travel operations.