Tuniu Corporation

And welcome to our 2021 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Joining me on the call today are Donald Yu, CUNY's founder, chairman, and chief executive officer, and Anqiang Chen, CUNY's financial controller. For today's agenda, management will discuss business updates, operation highlights, and financial performance for the third quarter of 2021. Before we continue, I refer you to our safe harbor statement in the earnings press release which applies to this call, as we will make forward-looking statements. Also, this call includes discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release, which contains a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to most directly comparable GAAP measures. Finally, please note that, unless otherwise stated, all figures mentioned during this conference call are in R&B. I would now like to turn the call over to our founder, chairman, and chief executive officer, Donald Wu.

Thank you, Mary.

Good day, everyone. Welcome to our third quarter 2021 earnings conference call. While the recovery of the overall tourism industry experienced a step back in the third quarter due to the resurgence of COVID-19 and natural disasters, our revenues from packaged tools continued to increase. Following the pandemic resurgence in August, Tunisia's total travel GMV resumed growth during September and October. Operating expenses decreased year-on-year for the third consecutive quarter. and our net loss continues to narrow compared to the same period last year. During the pandemic era, 2NEW has steadily, fastly adhered to our customer-first principle, providing safe and comfortable travel experiences, as well as refund and exchange guarantees. Our refund and exchange request rate reached the highest level of the year following the COVID-19 resurgence in July. From July 20 to August 20, 2NEW refunded over 85,000 orders and the total refunds for packaged tours was over RMB 120 million. In addition, 2NEW extended refund and exchange guarantees for mid- and high-risk areas and absorbed some of the losses for customers who had to cancel trips due to pandemic control measures. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, we have provided coverage on the losses of our customers, totaling over 100 million. Thanks to our timely and effective services, We have been rewarded with the long-term support and trust of our many loyal customers. In fact, the contribution of repeat customers to our transaction volume has been stable at more than 75% every quarter since 2020. In October, our member state single-day sales exceeded RMB 10 million, with the Transaction volume of package tool products increase in 30% quarter on quarter. And the high quality and trustworthy corporate image we've established has played a large role in attracting new customers. While ensuring that we maintain the highest standard of service quality, we will continue to focus our energies on product development We consistently worked to upgrade our products based on customers' involving demands, amidst the change towards smaller, premium package tours. Travelers have increasingly diversified demands for tour themes such as adventures, photography, and health-related services, alongside the traditional visits to scenic spots. and their standards in terms of facilities and service is growing as well. During the National Day holiday this year, more than half of our total organized tours were groups of six or less, according to new tours booking data. Two new years of experience in the industry have allowed us to build a mature product and service network covering points of departure. But the development of destination-based products and services still has enormous room to develop. The design and development of 2NEWS package tool products has always revolved around the destination. Our new tool product designers all have more than five years of experience in destination design. and we have dedicated staff responsible for resource procurement at destinations. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, we have further promoted innovation within existing destination roles and the development of new destinations. By deeply leveraging our resources in the domestic travel market, we have launched multiple diversified products such as countryside tours, glamping and urban light tours in addition to our mainstream products to provide more options for customers. In the post-COVID-19 era, self-guided tour has become increasingly popular. To address this, our HotelPlusX product model focuses on destination hotels with special emphasis on location hotels. Our HotelPlusX product model offers many options to meet diverse customer demands, such as scenic spot tickets for the mass market, helicopter tours for the premium market, and family-friendly entertainment activities. The HotelPlusX product model still has room for development, and with our direct procurement advantages, we will continue to access deeper levels of destination-based resources to provide travelers with more product choices and greater value for money. In terms of marketing, our approach combines popular online formats, including short videos to better capture the attention of customers and live streaming shows to introduce destinations, helping to encourage interested users to place orders. These promotions are highly popular with current customers, especially the younger generation. We have developed several long-term and in-depth live streaming shows for popular destinations, some of which have achieved strong results, and we look forward to developing this channel further.

In terms of destination service, our self-operated local tour

Operators are on the front lines or directly serving customers and one of two news core advantages We have been recognized for our continuous efforts to provide high quality service and have been rewarded with the support and guarantee and gratitude of our customers Our satisfaction rate has reached 98% this quarter since we launched our zero complaints initiative with our local tour operators this year. In the third quarter, GMV of self-operated local tour products increased over 30% year-on-year. Within this, the proportion of GMV for self-operated local tour products increased by 10% within the GMV package tour products compared with the third quarter last year. In addition, our self-operated local tour operators effectively collaborated with our customer service teams in the headquarters to create a full cycle service network for travelers. In the third quarter, when our tourists encountered bad weather conditions and pandemic disruptions, our tour guides, destination staff, and customer service teams immediately coordinated to active our emergency response plan and actively cooperated with the local prevention and control requirements to ensure tourists travel safely. In terms of technology, 2NEO has made positive progress in our digital development, with significant gains in our operational efficiency, including order processing and inventory management. Going forward, our digital development will focus on destinations, including strengthening our R&D capabilities for supply chain systems and improving customer travel experiences. By leveraging our vertically integrated business model and proprietary technology, we are able to reduce the number of intermediate links in the industrial chain, allowing us to provide more convenient services for tourists during travel, including airport shuttles, bus seat selection, and tour guide options. While the tourism industry has encountered temporary difficulties due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, our priority has been to meet the pandemic control requirements of each region, ensure tourism safety and minimize losses, while ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction. Moreover, we will continue to strengthen the stratum of our product services and technology to improve overall in-destination customer experience. I'm confident that our continuous efforts will continue to deliver results. I will now turn the call to Anqiang, our financial controller, for the financial highlight.

Thank you, Donald. Hello, everyone. Now I will walk you through our third quarter of 2021 financial results in greater detail. Please note that all the monetary amounts are in RMB unless otherwise stated. You can find the US dollar equivalent of the numbers in our earnings release. For the third quarter of 2021, net revenues were 114.6 million, representing a year-over-year decrease of 7% from the corresponding period in 2020. The decrease was primarily due to the negative impact brought by the outbreak and spread of COVID-19. Revenues from package tours were up 5% year-over-year to $90.7 million and accounted for 79% of our total net revenues for the quarter. The increase was primarily due to the growth in revenues from self-operated products. Other revenues were down 36% year-over-year to $23.9 million and accounted for 21% of our total net revenues. The decrease was primarily due to the decline in commissions received from other travel-related products impacted by the outbreak and spread of COVID-19. Gross profit for the third quarter of 2021 was $39.7 million, down 39% year-over-year. Operating expenses for the third quarter of 2021 were 96.4 million, down 25% year-over-year. Excluding shell-based composition expenses and amortization of acquired intangible assets, non-GAAP operating expenses were 90.9 million, representing a year-over-year decrease of 23%. Research and product development expenses for the third quarter of 2021 were 15.6 million, down 3% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in research and product development personnel-related expenses. Sales and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2021 were 41.7 million, down 16% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in sales and marketing personnel-related expenses and monetization of acquired intangible assets. General and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2021 were $41.2 million, down 41% year-over-year. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in general and administrative personnel-related expenses. Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was $35.1 million in the third quarter of 2021. Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders, which excluded shell-based compensation expenses and amortization of acquired intangible assets, was $29.4 million in the third quarter of 2021. As of September 30, 2021, The company had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments of $1 billion. Capital expenditures for the third quarter of 2021 were $2.1 million. For the fourth quarter of 2021, the company began to generate $53.4 million to $65.3 million of net revenues, which represents 45% to 55% decrease year-over-year. Please note that the forecast refers to new current and preliminary view on the industry and its operations, which is subject to change, particularly as to the uncertainties brought about by the impact of COVID-19. Thank you for listening. We are now ready for your questions. Operator?

Thank you. The question and answer session of this conference call will start in a moment. In order to be fair to all callers who wish to ask questions, we will take one question at a time from each caller. If you have more than one question, please request to join the question queue again after your first question has been addressed. Ask a question, please signal by pressing star 1 on the telephone keypad, and if you're using your speakerphone, please ensure that your mute function is turned off. Again, press star one for a question. We will now pause for just one moment.

Our first question comes from Lucy Wong.

Sylvester, please go ahead.

OK. This is Lucy speaking. Thank you, operator. Time management. My question is about the impact of domestic pandemic resurgence on the industry and the company. What if the current COVID outbreak continues, say, till the spring festival or even longer? And what's your plan for the winter season? Okay, that's all.

Thanks. Thank you for the question.

There have been outbreaks of COVID-19 from time to time since late July, which has set back the recovery of the industry. Even under such negative conditions, our revenues from packaged tools still have a positive growth year on year. The recent outbreaks have spread to many provinces and some of the provinces have suspended inter-province travels. Thus, we extend our net revenue for the fourth quarter to decrease on a year-over-year basis. However, if we look at it in another light, the outbreak of the pandemic has also accelerated the upgrading of the travel industry. After the outbreak of the pandemic, the demand for better resources and services from customers has brought up higher quality products. Upon the demand, we launched the Zero Complaint initiative with our local tour operators, and the GMV of our local tour operator products doubled in the first three quarters this year compared to the same period last year. In terms of the service, thanks to the mutual efforts from all parties in the entire industry chain, Customer refund and exchange processes are getting quicker and guarantees more complete. Although we and our partners may incur some losses, we all take the social responsibility and prioritize the customer interest. These improvements have raised the bar for the whole industry and will make it better in the future. Under current circumstances, when inter-provinces travel are suspended, we will focus on the intra-province travels. Based on our advantages in the supply chain, we are providing customers with more high-quality local tours, including high-class leisure hotels and local entertainment. Moreover, with the diversified demand, For tour themes, we are exploring more options for travelers, such as countryside tours and interactive activities between parents and children. Flying and hot springs are classic themes in winter. We are exploring these resources around cities, packaging them with nearby hotels to form excursion of self-drive products suitable for weekend outings. Also, we will continue our live streaming shows at destinations to share sceneries online with travelers at home. In general, we see the resolution and efforts to overcome the pandemic throughout the nation in spite of the current resurgence of the pandemic. With ongoing vaccination rollout and enhancement of prevention measures, the pandemic will be defeated and the travel industry will continue to recover in the near future.

Thank you.

Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please signal by pressing star 1.

Okay, so we are now approaching the end of the conference call.

I will now turn the call over to 2NEWS Director of Investor Relations, Mary, for closing remarks.

Once again, thank you for joining us today. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any further questions. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to speaking with you in the coming months.

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes presentation. You may now disconnect. Good day.