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The recovery of the outbound tourism market is expected to accelerate
The China Tourism Academy forecasts that the recovery process of the inbound and outbound tourism market will further accelerate in 2024, and the number of inbound and outbound tourists and international tourism revenue will exceed US$264 million and US$107 billion, respectively.
Visa policy sends a positive signal
In 2023, as the global tourism industry recovers, Chinese tourists from around the world will be welcomed again. Not long ago, Zhang Lin, who lives in Beijing’s Haidian District, went on vacation to Pattaya, Thailand with her lover. “I have met many compatriots in Thailand and I have more and more friends who travel abroad.” She said there were three main reasons why she chose Thailand as the destination for her first trip abroad in more than three years: visa-free, relatively cheaper Price and short distance.
Convenient transportation, friendly language environment, rich tourism resources and relatively low travel costs have made Chinese tourists always prefer Southeast Asian countries. At the end and beginning of the year, many Southeast Asian countries introduced favorable visa requirements: Malaysia announced that Chinese citizens would be exempt from visa requirements within 30 days of entry; Thailand announced that China and Thailand would permanently exempt each other’s country’s citizens from visa requirements starting in March.
The positive signals that these measures triggered quickly met with an enthusiastic response from Chinese tourists. According to data from Fliggy.com, search volume for Thai airline tickets immediately increased more than 2-fold within an hour of the new visa-free policy being announced. Xiang Min, head of Fliggy’s airline ticket business, said that in recent months, the average price of flights to Thailand has fallen compared to the first half of 2023, and traveling with the support of the new visa-free policy is cost-effective. The cross-border travel of tourists from both countries has been increased and consumption will enter a phase of accelerated growth.
Resuming international flights brings benefits
The rapid resumption of international flights is also good for trips abroad. Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China shows that international passenger flights have recovered from fewer than 500 flights per week in early 2023 to more than 4,600 flights currently. Passenger traffic between China and Europe has returned to more than 60% of pre-epidemic levels, and regular direct flights between China and the United States have increased to 63 flights per week. The international passenger transport market will continue to accelerate its recovery in 2024. The number of flights per week is expected to reach about 6,000 by the end of the year and recover to about 80% of the pre-epidemic number.
Currently, many people are planning their trip abroad during the upcoming winter holidays and Spring Festival holidays. Data from Tuniu Travel Network shows that the booking volume of travel products during the group period of this year’s Spring Festival increased significantly compared to the same period last year, and the booking peak was also significantly advanced. Currently, international travel bookings account for 34%, with Thailand, Singapore, Maldives, Russia, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nordic routes the most popular options.
“Currently, guests planning to travel to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other destinations with long visa processing times during the Spring Festival holiday have essentially completed their reservations. The next step will be the transaction cycle of visa-free and visa-free visas. “Customized trips for 6 people” Founder and CEO Jia Jianqiang said that most people who travel during the Spring Festival are family customers, and popular destinations are basically countries and regions with warm climates, suitable for all ages.
Residents’ willingness to travel is increasing
The “2024 Outbound Travel Demand Trends of Chinese Residents” released by Tongcheng Travel.com shows that with the rapid recovery of international flights and the optimization of visa policies for major destinations, residents’ willingness to travel abroad has increased significantly. More than 60% of respondents said they planned to travel abroad during the year. In addition, the survey shows that the price of travel products such as airline tickets and hotels is the main factor influencing the choice of foreign travel destinations. Destination safety issues are second only to price, tourism factors such as humanities and history are of secondary importance, and landscapes closely linked to the travel experience are third.
From a price perspective, current outbound tourism offers have increased compared to 2019. Jia Jianqiang said that although travel costs in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other countries and regions have fallen as airline capacities gradually recover, travel costs are still high.
Although the price is not affordable enough to limit the demand for foreign travel to some extent, industry insiders have expressed optimistic expectations about the overall development of foreign travel. “In 2024, outbound tourism will accelerate its recovery as the supply side improves and consumer confidence increases. At the same time, the trend of diversifying consumption will become more prominent,” said Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute, “this group of traditional tours and high-end customized tours as well as new outbound shopping tours and trips will become their respective target markets continue to consolidate. With the integration of outbound tourism, travel vacations, concerts, sporting events, medical health, etc., more new forms of “outbound travel +” will be popular in 2024.
Jia Jianqiang said that 2024 will be a relatively stable and sustainable recovery period for outbound tourism. Some countries and regions in South America and Africa are niche destinations that have shown strong recovery momentum and will attract more outbound tourists this year. In addition, strong demand for business and educational travel will strongly support the market’s further recovery.
Zhang Xue
Source: Economic Daily
Editor: Chen Sijing
Editor: Xu Lingfang
Editor-in-Chief: Zhang Jianbing
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