(Yicai) May 21 -- Trip.Com Group, China's largest online travel agency, said net profit jumped 26 percent in the first quarter of the year thanks to strong growth in the domestic and outbound tourism markets.

Net profit was about CNY4.3 billion (USD600 million) in the three months ended March 31, the Shanghai-based company said in an earnings report released today. Revenue rose 29 percent to about CNY11.9 billion (USD1.6 billion).

Trip.Com's revenue from accommodation reservations jumped 29 percent to around CNY4.5 billion while ticketing income from flights, trains, and other travel models climbed 20 percent to about CNY5 billion, the company noted.

Tourism and resort business revenue surged 129 percent to around CNY883 million (USD122 million) last quarter from a year earlier, while that from business travel management rose 15 percent to about CNY511 million, Trip.Com added.

China's domestic tourism market continued its strong growth, with Trip.Com's bookings for hotels and flights jumping more than 20 percent, the company said. Outbound tourism has also become important, with reservations for overseas hotels and flights surging over 100 percent, it added. 

Inbound bookings on Trip.Com soared more than four-fold, with its international platform's corresponding income surging 80 percent.

Shares of Trip.Com [HKG: 9961] fell 0.5 percent to HKD434.40 (USD55.69) apiece as of lunch break in Hong Kong today, after dropping by as much as 2.5 percent in the morning trading session. Its New York-listed stock [NASDAQ: TCOM] closed up 0.4 percent at USD57.05 yesterday.

Editor: Martin Kadiev