BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Leading Chinese online travel agency Ctrip announced Friday that it has invested 150 million yuan (about 23.68 million U.S. dollars) in a popular domestic restaurant-booking platform in its latest efforts to build a tourism-based ecosystem.
The start-up Meiweibuyongdeng helps restaurants better manage their bookings and customer flow via its website and mobile apps, as many Chinese restaurants have long queues during peak hours.
The platform said it now serves about 100,000 restaurants in over 200 cities.
Alibaba's local services platform Koubei also invested 150 million in the start-up.
Ctrip has already partnered with Meiweibuyongdeng on restaurant bookings, and plans to extend the partnership to making orders and other services.
The OTA giant announced in January that it has formed a partnership with global online restaurant reservations provider OpenTable, which allows Ctrip mobile app users to book tens of thousands of restaurants across North America.
According to research, Chinese travelers were more interested in spending on food and entertainment last year than on shopping.
