Ministry of Culture and Tourism Announces Third Batch of Countries and Regions Resuming Outbound Group Tours
Beijing, August 10 – The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced the third batch of countries and regions that have resumed outbound group tours. The total number of countries and regions now allowing outbound group tours has increased to 138.
The expansion of outbound tourism destinations and the continuous development of related products have led industry experts to predict a full-scale explosion in outbound tourism during the upcoming “October” holiday.
Among the newly approved countries and regions for outbound group tours, Asia includes Oman, Pakistan, Bahrain, South Korea, Qatar, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Japan, Turkey, Israel, and India. Meanwhile, Europe includes Ireland, Estonia, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Germany, Finland, Netherlands, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Romania, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Sweden, Cyprus, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom.
With the addition of these new destinations, the number of countries and regions offering outbound group tours has now reached 138. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has also released a comprehensive list of these countries and regions.
Following the announcement, Ctrip data revealed that there has been a more than twenty-fold increase in searches for outbound travel products. The Chinese New Year departure period received the most attention, with group products from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries experiencing a surge in popularity.
Similarly, the same journey travel data indicates that visa consultations on the platform have nearly tripled compared to the previous day, and inquiries for outbound travel products to relevant countries have seen a sharp rise. Turkey, Australia, and Japan emerged as the top destinations of interest for users, with the number of travel inquiries for Turkey increasing by more than ten-fold.
Tongcheng Travel’s spokesperson stated that the first batch of products for newly opened destinations are mainly focused on in-depth tours of a single country. However, follow-up classic tandem products, such as Turkey + Egypt, Turkey + Dubai, and the four Nordic countries, will gradually enter the market.
In response to the announcement, Ctrip plans to promptly launch relevant outbound travel products in countries like Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, the United States, Morocco, India, and more.
According to Qunar data, as international flights gradually resume, the number of international air ticket bookings in popular cities this summer has recovered to over 50% of pre-pandemic levels. Bangkok in Thailand, Seoul in South Korea, Hong Kong in China, Tokyo and Osaka in Japan, and Singapore are among the popular destinations. Japan and South Korea, both included in the third batch of countries, have seen nearly a ten-fold increase in booking volume compared to the beginning of the year, while air ticket prices dropped by approximately 40%.
Xie Xiaoqing, a senior researcher at Ctrip Research Institute, highlighted that the expansion of group tour countries will accelerate product development and deployment, thereby enriching travel options for consumers and stimulating the recovery of supply and demand. The upcoming National Day Golden Week will be a key period for market observations.
On the supply side, outbound travel is steadily recovering. Ctrip data reveals that the weekly average cross-border flight volume has reached over 50% of the same period in 2019, and the average price of cross-border flights has dropped by nearly 10% compared to last year. Demand for cross-border flights now exceeds that of the same period in 2019.
The person in charge at Ctrip Air Tickets emphasized that there is currently an uneven distribution of resource recovery in terms of flight capacity and visas, and the supply is insufficient to meet the demand. However, with the further optimization of cross-border travel policies, the pace of recovery on the supply side is expected to accelerate.
Tongcheng Research Institute predicts that the further liberalization of outbound travel will serve as a significant supplement to the existing tourism consumption market. With the expansion of outbound travel destinations and the continuous enrichment of related products, the market dividends of outbound travel liberalization will continue to be released, and a full-scale outbreak is expected during the “October” holiday.