Outbound tourism market recovery is expected to accelerate
The China Tourism Academy predicts 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 264 million and US$107 billion respectively.
Visa policy releases positive signal
In 2023, as the global tourism industry recovers, Chinese tourists will once again be welcomed from all over the world. Not long ago, Zhang Lin, who lives in Haidian District, Beijing, went to Pattaya, Thailand, for vacation with her lover. “I met many compatriots in Thailand, and I have more and more friends who are traveling abroad.” She said there were three main reasons why she chose Thailand as the destination for her first overseas trip in more than three years: visa-free, relatively cheap price, and close distance.
Convenient transportation, friendly language environment, rich tourism resources and relatively low travel costs have made Chinese tourists always favor Southeast Asian countries. At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, many Southeast Asian countries introduced favorable visa policies: Malaysia announced that Chinese citizens would be exempted from visas within 30 days of entry; Thailand announced that China and Thailand would permanently exempt each other’s citizens from visas starting in March.
The positive signals released by these policies quickly received enthusiastic response from Chinese tourists. According to data from Fliggy.com, within one hour after the new visa-free policy was announced, the search volume for Thai air tickets instantly increased by more than 2 times. Xiang Min, head of Fliggy’s air ticket business, said that in recent months, the average price of flights to Thailand has dropped compared with the first half of 2023, and travel is cost-effective. With the support of the new visa-free policy, cross-border travel by tourists from the two countries has increased. Consumption will enter a stage of accelerated growth.
The resumption of international flights brings benefits
Also good for outbound travel is the rapid resumption of international flights. Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China shows that international passenger flights have recovered from less 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 the level before the epidemic, 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. It is expected that the number of flights per week will reach about 6,000 by the end of the year, and will recover to about 80% of the number before the epidemic.
Right now, many people are planning their outbound travel during the upcoming winter vacation and Spring Festival holidays. Data from Tuniu Travel Network shows that the booking volume of travel products during this year’s Spring Festival group period has increased significantly compared with the same period last year, and the booking peak has also been significantly advanced. Currently, outbound travel bookings account for 34%, with Thailand, Singapore, Maldives, Russia, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nordic connections being popular choices.
“At present, guests who plan to go to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other destinations with long visa processing times during the Spring Festival holiday have basically completed their reservations. The next step will be the transaction cycle of visa-free and visa-on-arrival destination tourism products.” Customized travel for 6 people Founder and CEO Jia Jianqiang said that most of the people traveling during the Spring Festival are family customers, and popular destinations are basically countries and regions with warm climates that are suitable for all ages.
Residents’ willingness to travel increases
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 the respondents said that There are plans to travel abroad during the year. In addition, the survey shows that the price of travel products such as air tickets and hotels is the primary factor that affects people’s choice of outbound travel destinations. Destination safety issues are second only to price in importance, and tourism factors such as humanities, history and scenery that are closely related to the travel experience are Ranked third.
From the price point of view, the current outbound tourism products have increased compared with 2019. Jia Jianqiang said that although air ticket prices have dropped as airline capacity gradually recovers, travel costs in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other countries and regions are still high.
Although the price is not affordable enough to restrict the release of outbound travel demand to a certain extent, industry insiders have expressed optimistic expectations for the overall trend of outbound travel. “In 2024, outbound tourism will accelerate its recovery as the supply side improves and consumer confidence increases. At the same time, the diversification trend of consumption will become more prominent.” Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute, said that traditional group tours and high-end customized tours and emerging outbound shopping tours and sojourns will further consolidate their respective target markets. With the integration of outbound tourism, travel vacations, concerts, sports events, medical health, etc., more new ways of “outbound travel +” will be popular in 2024.
Jia Jianqiang said that 2024 will be a relatively stable and sustained 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 commercial and educational travel will strongly support the continued recovery of the market.
Zhang Xue
Editor: Zheng Jianlong