In June 2011, Qunar.com Inc accused Ctrip of deceiving consumers and of malicious business practices. It also sued Ctrip again for defamation in May 2012.

The intense competition among the major market players has taken place continuously in the past few years.

However, analysts say the companies could diversify their businesses and services to attract more travelers.

Currently the major market players mainly focus on three areas - transportation, hotel booking and tickets to places of interest, but "they could do more," Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Institute, an Internet consulting agency, told the Global Times.

Zhang noted Tuesday that more tourists, especially younger ones, these days would like to enjoy tailor-made services such as special catering and living in homes of local residents.

As such, online trip agencies "could do more" in this regard, said Zhang.

Cooperating with each other might sometimes be "a win-win solution," according to Zhang.

Ctrip and Qunar started cooperating in 2013 in a bid to jointly strengthen their online tourism businesses and compete with other market players.

In August 2013, Qunar's website began to promote tourism products offered by Ctrip as the main aspect of cooperation between the two companies.

Alibaba also made a strategic investment in Qyer, a Chinese tourism website providing travel guides and online forums, in July 2013 to expand its business in the online trip sector.