During the Golden Week vacation, which sees hundreds of millions of people in the nation on the move, more Chinese are heading to Europe and other far-flung places. This is the most significant signals of a travel comeback since the country re-opened its borders a few years ago.
Since the holiday week of the previous year, there has been a significant increase in the number of bookings made for foreign flights and hotels. According to Qunar and Trip.com, two of the most prominent online travel companies in China, international airline reservations have increased by a factor of two, with Europe exhibiting some of the most significant increases.
According to Fliggy, the travel business of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the number of reservations for cruise holidays has increased sevenfold, while the number of bookings for overseas automobile rental packages has increased by more than 150% since 2023.
During the weeklong vacation that begins on October 1, travelers are most likely to go to Asian locations ranging from Japan to Malaysia. On the other hand, some of the destinations that are seeing the most rapid growth in reservations are long-haul destinations such as Belgium, Croatia, Nordic countries, and the United Arab Emirates.
According to a study by Dragon Trail International, which monitors travel attitude and trends in the country, “We expect an October Golden Week that will come closer than any previous Chinese holiday period since the country’s reopening to meeting pre-pandemic levels.” This is the conclusion that can be drawn from the findings of the data collected by Dragon Trail International.
Free Boost for Visas
A crucial indicator for the travel industry throughout the world is the recovery of tourism from China that takes place outside of the country. According to statistics provided by the World Travel and Tourism Council, Chinese visitors made 170 million travels outside of the country in 2019, spending approximately 1.7 trillion yuan ($242 billion). This accounted for 14% of the total dollars spent on tourism throughout the world. Prior to the epidemic, Chinese travelers were renowned for spending more than tourists from the majority of other nations.
A Bloomberg review of Cirium flight data found that airlines had assigned around 1.6 million seats on overseas flights departing from the mainland for the period of October 1 through October 7. This is approximately 20% below the levels that existed prior to the epidemic. This is despite the fact that international travel from China has not completely recovered. The data on airline tickets that was collected by the flight analytics company ForwardKeys reveals that the difference between travel demand and supply is much less than it was in 2019. According to Nan Dai, a China market analyst at ForwardKeys, the growth of some international destinations, notably those with visa-free rules, is particularly remarkable.
According to ForwardKeys, the number of tourists visiting Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, has increased by 142% compared to the levels that existed before the epidemic. Additionally, the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore has increased by double digits as a result of visa-free efforts.
Shifts in Journeys
During this holiday season, Chinese visitors are decreasing their participation in large group tours and instead opting for solo or couple vacations to less crowded destinations. This is because overtourism is a problem in many popular destinations. According to Trip.com, Japanese locations such as Yokohama, Takayama, and Ito, which are not as well-known as the Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto circuit, have had booking increases in the triple digits. Both the island of Phu Quoc in Vietnam and the town of Higashizu in Japan, which is known for its hot springs, are seeing an increase in demand for vacations that focus on getting in touch with nature and promoting wellbeing.
Nevertheless, the majority of the travel will take place on the mainland, which has seen a significant resurgence in domestic tourism. Following the release of the popular video game Black Myth: Wukong, which highlighted the region’s breathtaking landscapes, pagodas, and temples, the city of Shuozhou, which is located in the northern province of Shanxi, along with other places in the province, have become popular tourist attractions.
According to an official briefing that took place on Monday, China anticipates that domestic travels and tourist expenditure will increase by 16.8% and 17.1% on-year, respectively, in the first nine months of 2024. This will get China closer to the level that it reached in the whole year of 2019. In the first three quarters of this year, it is anticipated that the number of visitors coming from outside the country will increase to 95 million, which is a figure that is equivalent to 93.4% of the same time in 2019.
According to the officials who spoke at the same conference, the authorities are also considering the possibility of sponsoring famous television programs, concerts, and sporting events as a method of boosting tourism. In addition, several local governments will provide visitors with vouchers worth millions of yuan in order to encourage an increase in spending.
It is anticipated that Chinese tourists would make 1.94 billion visits on the mainland over the Golden Week, despite the fact that the economy is slow and consumer spending is restrained. This is more travels than the number of residents in the nation, as stated by the government. When compared to the same time period in 2019, this is an almost twenty percent increase.
Despite the fact that Cirium statistics revealed that airlines had planned around 17 million seats on domestic routes, which is a 22% increase over 2019, a significant number of passengers will be driving or utilizing high-speed rail. In accordance with the government’s projections, eight out of ten journeys will be taken by automobile.