But Alitrip also has a few advantages, such as a huge database of users that Alibaba has accumulated, as well as its strong travel information search engine, said Ma.

"The online trip market in China is big enough, as consumer demand is broad. Alitrip doesn't need to grab existing market share from other competitors but can try to meet the diversified demand of consumers [in new areas]," Li Shaohua, general manager of Alitrip, said in another statement that Alibaba e-mailed to the Global Times Tuesday.

Concerning possible competition from more market players such as Alitrip, Yan Xin, public relation manager at Ctrip, told the Global Times on Tuesday that "Ctrip has its own advantages in service and technology, which are not reproducible."

Yan also noted that Qunar, which operates an online travel search engine, is Alitrip's major rival.

The competition in the online tourism sector has been intense with companies trying to attract customers with tactics like major price discounting and promotions.

For instance, eLong waged a major promotional battle with its major competitor Ctrip in December 2013.

The CEO of eLong Cui Guangfu started by claiming on his verified Weibo account that if ctrip.com offered a 10 percent discount like eLong, eLong would offer rewards worth 240,000 yuan ($39,528) to its customers, and he also invited Ctrip CEO Liang Jianzhang to join the contest.

In addition to price wars, market players have even confronted each other in court.