Chinese Internet travel service provider Ctrip.com (CTRP) is betting on more offline revenue growth as it is raising its stake in China's economy hotel chain Home Inns & Hotels (HMIN) to 8.72% from the previous 7.55%.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ctrip.com will soon increase its holdings in Home Inns to 17.72% for investment purposes, but this has been denied by Ctrip.com. The company says it won't raise its stake in Home Inns to that percentage within the next 30 days. Ctrip.com also says it needs to report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for each substantial holding increase.

Ctrip.com reportedly purchased 7.55% of Home Inns' stake before December 9, 2008 and added another 1.17% more after that date.

Ctrip.com was founded in 1999 by Liang Jianzhang, Shen Nanpeng, Ji Qi and Fan Min. Among them, Shen Nanpeng and Ji Qi are also founders of Home Inns. At present, Ctrip.com holds 125.8 million shares of Home Inns.