After thorough study and analysis of statistic data on Chinese outbound tourists in the third quarter of 2011, as well as the data of actual reservation and transaction through ctrip.com, experts from China Tourism Academy, a professional research institution directly under the National Tourism Administration, and ctrip.com, a leading comprehensive tourism service…
After thorough study and analysis of statistic data on Chinese outbound tourists in the third quarter of 2011, as well as the data of actual reservation and transaction through ctrip.com, experts from China Tourism Academy, a professional research institution directly under the National Tourism Administration, and ctrip.com, a leading comprehensive tourism service company in China, have jointly worked out the ranking for the Top Ten Most Visited Destinations, the Top Ten Most Popular Outbound Tour Islands, the Top Ten Most Popular Self-guided Tour Destinations, the Top Ten Most Popular Outbound Tour Cities, the Top Ten Destinations of Travel Insurance Chosen by Tourists, and the Top Ten Popular Airline Companies. Besides, an in-depth insight into what’s behind the ranking is also offered by these experts.
Booming market demands and proliferating outbound tourists. In spite of the frequent occurrence of various disasters and unexpected accidents throughout the whole year in the world, Chinese outbound tour market still showed a vigorous growth as pushed by the strong demands of people in the nation. The third quarter of 2011 witnessed 19.38 million Chinese tourists heading for destinations outside the nation, a 26% year-on-year increase. To put it more specifically, the growth rate for destinations within Asia stays at 28%, America 31%, Europe 25%, Africa 15%, and others regions 72%.
Tourist flows to Japan shrunk out of unexpected accidents there, market potential further released due to relaxed visa policies. Even though Japanese government has enlarged the application scope for Chinese individual eligible to travel to Japan since July 1, and further relaxed its visa policy for Chinese individual tourists since September by abolishing the former requirements of “applicants should have occupation of certain social status and financial capability” and extending the maxima stay duration from 15 days to 30 days, A huge slump was still observed in the number of Chinese tourists heading for Japan in the third quarter. Indeed, it is a 26% drop compared with the proportion of the same period of last year. In contrast, a 27% increase was noticed in tourists heading for Korea, as stipulated by, among many other comprehensive factors, the Plan on Relaxing the Visa Criterions for Tourists from China promulgated by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea, which adds Visa of multiple entries in one year into the application scope. Meanwhile, mainland tourists making Taiwan their tour destinations also increased by 12% in the third quarter as a result of the implementation of related tourism polices between the straits has deepened beyond tentative stage, and more passage flights were made available for the public.
Soaring educational and waterside tours in summer break. With the arrival of summer break, USA and Hong Kong became especially hot destinations, to which Chinese parents wish their children travel for eye-opening and life-enriching experience. As a result, USA-bounded tour rose by 34% in the third quarter, and Hong Kong-bounded tour by 25%. Ctrip.com was also a big driving force behind the scene as it has successfully organized many such educational tour groups for Chinese students during the summer break. Meanwhile, a great amount of Chinese tourists were found flocking to scenic islands for a cool summer and as a response to the enhanced tourism publicity efforts from such island countries. For example, Chinese tourists to Thailand grew by over 47% in the third quarter, Malaysia 87%. It is noticed by ctrip.com from the outbound tourism cases it has assisted in during the same period that Phuket Island, Bali Island, Maldives, Chejudo Island turned out to be the ones for which visas are most easily to get. Island tours facilitated by convenient traffic are most popular in summer time.
Individual tours driven heavily by the relaxed visa policies. Individual tour, which accounted for 92% of Chinese outbound tour in the third quarter, was indisputably the significant driving force behind the swift growth. Self-guided tour, which was on an upwards trend during the recent years, is subject to successful application of visas. It is found by ctrip.com that the most popular self-guided tour destinations are those boasting low threshold for visa application or having their visa procedures simplified greatly. Starting from the third quarter of this year, many countries and regions, with Japan and Korean as exceptions, have simplified their visa requirements for Chinese tourism applicants. For example, Ireland has added China into the coverage of its Short-term Visa-free Plan. New Zealand has reformed its application procedures for tourism visa to a great extend with application document package in Chinese allowed now.
Improved service quality made outbound tour more attractive. In order to cater to the skyrocketing demands of Chinese people touring abroad, overseas countries rushed to introduce more flights to directly connect with China. For example, starting from the third quarter, the direct flights between Gimpo and Beijing were made possible by Korean Air; direct flights between Chinese domestic cities and Hawaii were operated on a regular basis. According to Plan of Spain to Attract More Chinese Tourists, various measures will be adopted for this purpose. Among others, more offices will be set across China by European tourism authorities; more travel brochures will be published in Chinese; more tourism products will be tailored out to adapt to Chinese tourists. In addition, Victoria State of Australia has announced its 10-year tourism business promotion plan aiming at China. Air France is stepping up its efforts in providing ground service, broadcast service, cabin crew service in Chinese as well as Chinese-flavored food, etc. Two hotel giants, namely Hilton and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, planed to assign a Chinese-speaking staff in many hotels under their umbrella, with teapot and slippers available in each guest room, Chinese-styled breakfast and chopsticks provided upon request.
Joint-venture travel agency started to engage in Chinese outbound tour business. The so-called “catfish effect” has been brought into play with the involvement of joint-venture travel agency in Chinese outbound tour business. JTB New Century International Tours Co., Ltd. started to organize Chinese citizens to tour abroad on August 25, with its itinerary mainly focused on six counties in northeast Japan.
The Top Ten Most Visited Destinations in the Third Quarter: Hong Kong China, Macau China, Korea, Malaysia, USA, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan China, Singapore, Russia.
The Top Ten Most Popular Outbound Tour Islands in the Third Quarter: Phuket Island, Bali Island, Maldives, Chejudo Island, Hawaii, Sabah, Okinawa, Boracay Island, Saipan Island, Mauritius.
The Top Ten Most Popular Self-guided Tour Destinations in the Third Quarter: Hong Kong, Phuket Island, Maldives, Bali Island, Singapore, Hawaii, Seoul, Tokyo, Sabah, Cambodia.
The Top Ten Most Popular Outbound Tour Cities in the Third Quarter: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Taipei, Osaka, Kuala Lumpur, Macao, Rome.
The Top Ten Destinations of Travel Insurance Chosen by Tourists in the Third Quarter: Europe, Taiwan China, Malaysia, Australia, Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, Bali Indonesia, Thailand, USA.
The Top Ten Popular Airline Companies in the Third Quarter: China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragon Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express Airways, Air China International, Asiana Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air Macau, Korean Air.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
