Restart of outbound tourism: Some tourists placed orders for outbound travel overnight, and travel agencies regrouped the staff of the exit department
On the evening of December 26, the National Health and Medical Commission issued the "Overall Plan for the Implementation of "Class B and B Management" for New Coronavirus Infection", which optimized the management of Chinese and foreign personnel exchanges, and canceled the nucleic acid testing and centralized isolation of all staff after entry.
According to the international epidemic situation and various service guarantee capabilities, the outbound travel of Chinese citizens will be resumed in an orderly manner.
The Paper learned from an interview that some consumers have already placed orders for outbound travel overnight, and various travel agencies have also begun to regroup personnel from the outbound travel department to prepare for another departure.
Overnight booking of international air tickets and hotels
Li Yun, who booked a hotel in Thailand for 5 days and 4 nights, extended his annual leave to January 8 as soon as he saw the news, becoming the first beneficiary of the policy liberalization.
According to news from Qunar.com, as early as mid-December, some tourists stocked up on low-cost international hotels in advance. The departure time is during the New Year’s Day, and popular destinations are Thailand, the Philippines and other resort areas.
Compared with popular destinations such as Japan and Thailand.
Huang Xiaoyong chose Vietnam, "I have been planning to go out before, and I have been waiting for this news for a long time."
Huang Xiaoyong introduced that when he saw the news of the opening of outbound travel, he immediately checked the prices of air tickets and hotels. The prices of hotels opened a little longer were basically maintained. For example, the prices of newly opened hotels after 2019 have increased by 200 yuan. To 300 yuan, within the acceptable range.
This itinerary is more than travel.
Huang Xiaoyong wants to go to Vietnam for business inspection.
In 2019, I went to Vietnam for inspection and planned to open a milk tea shop. At that time, the rent, income, competition situation, etc. had been investigated. With the arrival of the epidemic, the plan of the milk tea shop was stranded.
Huang Xiaoyong said, "My purpose is clear, and I will not give up the itinerary because of the price of the hotel and air ticket, but the air ticket will affect the itinerary. For example, the original plan may be changed to economy class instead of business class."
Sebastian, a German national who has worked in China for more than 10 years, told The Paper that he has already booked a ticket to Vienna on New Year's Day, and plans to "New Year's Eve" in Vienna and return before the Spring Festival.
Now it is more convenient to enter the country without quarantine, "I feel very happy."
As of 9 a.m. on December 27, the volume of international air ticket orders on the Tongcheng travel platform has reached 150% compared with the previous month on the 26th, and has reached 2.5 times that of the whole day on the 26th.
The number of orders placed by users soared in the early morning, and the order volume climbed rapidly again after 7:00 am on the 27th, with a single-hour increase of 271% month-on-month.
As of 14:00 on the 27th, the volume of international air ticket orders for the same journey has increased by more than 400% month-on-month.
Overseas hotel bookings in Hong Kong, Macau, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Pattaya, etc. have increased significantly. As of 12 noon on the 27th, the single-day order volume in Bangkok has increased by 147%.
Travel agencies: regrouping outbound tourists
Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of Spring Tourism, said that the company will follow the relevant guidance of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and negotiate with Spring Airlines and destination partners as soon as possible, mainly in the following aspects: First, the design of the destination Reorganize, supplement and improve the resources and transportation of countries and regions; secondly, combine the practice of integration of culture and tourism, tourism and leisure in the past three years to re-plan the design and service ideas of outbound tourism products; thirdly, in terms of internal arrangements , will also regroup the former exit department personnel, and the quality supervision and compliance department and the tour guide management department will also prepare relevant legal documents and system process training according to the new plan.
"Tourists from mainland China have contributed a lot to international travel in Asia. At present, the number of international tourists from mainland China has recovered less than 5%. With the gradual liberalization of outbound travel, favorable policies and preferential prices, I believe these regions will be the first to welcome Chinese tourists. , and Ctrip’s outbound travel recovery layout will also start from these countries one after another.” The relevant person in charge of Ctrip said, “The release of the new regulations has ensured a smoother environment for cross-border travel from the policy level, and will effectively mobilize tourists’ willingness to travel. Next We are also very much looking forward to the further implementation of outbound tourism policies, the ice and snow will eventually melt, and the spring of outbound tourism has come."
The visa necessary for outbound travel is also a recent hot spot.
According to the data released by Tongcheng Travel, the number of visa consultations on December 27 increased 15 times compared with the previous day, reaching the peak in three years.
The questions that users are interested in focus on the following aspects: the visa processing policy and cycle of the destination country; consultation on visa materials, what materials are needed, and whether the materials are complete; whether it can be processed and whether it can be successfully processed.
Judging from the overall consultation questions in December, with the domestic policy adjustment of the "New Ten Articles", the number of users asking about visas for going abroad has increased significantly, which shows that users' willingness and confidence to travel abroad are recovering.
In the user's visa consultation, the popular destinations are concentrated in Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, the United States and some European Schengen visas.
According to data from Ctrip.com, as of 12 noon on the 27th, the number of overseas visa searches on the Ctrip platform on the 27th increased by 8 times from the previous day, and the number of visa inquiries increased by 150% from the previous day.
Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, the United States, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand have been popular destinations for outbound travel over the years. The corresponding consulates and visa centers of these popular tourist countries have been fully opened. All types of business can be handled normally.
After the release of the entry quarantine cancellation policy on the evening of the 26th, tourists who consulted on Ctrip for visas on the 27th were mainly motivated by tourism.
Japan: will limit the increase of China-Japan flights
"After seeing the news released last night, I immediately discussed with a few friends in the group that we can go abroad. We would like to go to Japan and some European countries. But considering that Japan is relatively close and convenient, we still want to go first. Japan." Liu Chu said that she directly opened the APP to search for air tickets, and found that the price of air tickets to Japan on New Year's Day in 2023 was "ridiculously expensive."
"There are no direct flights from Shanghai to Tokyo on December 31, and you have to transfer. If you choose a round trip, the cheapest is 6,300 yuan per person, and the most important thing is that there are no direct flights, and the travel time is the shortest. It takes more than 3 hours for the flight, and 11 hours for the return journey, and the air ticket price directly soars to more than 9,000. In this way, the cost of money and time is very high, so we gave up our plan to go to Japan.
Zhang Hui is a white-collar worker working in a foreign company in Shanghai. According to her plan, she originally planned to go to Macau after New Year's Day to receive the Fubitai COVID-19 vaccine before traveling to Japan for vacation.
However, his heart has been feeling uncomfortable after "Yangkang" recently, and his travel plan has been temporarily put on hold.
Zhao Ting's first choice for outbound travel is also Japan.
She said, "Europe is too far away. If you are abroad, you want to go to Japan and Okinawa." Zhao Ting told The Paper.
However, recent travel may also face new epidemic prevention policies in many countries.
According to a report by Japan's Kyodo News on December 27, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that emergency measures to strengthen entry epidemic prevention will be implemented from midnight on the 30th.
For all personnel who have been to Japan from China and have been to China within seven days, they will be tested upon entry.
People who test positive when entering the country are, in principle, quarantined in isolation facilities for seven days.
In addition, in order to ensure that the detection at the time of entry is foolproof, the increase in the number of Chinese flights will be restricted in the future.
A subsequent report by Kyodo News once again quoted the Japanese government as saying that as a new crown border epidemic prevention measure for people entering from China, if they test positive in the entry inspection, they need to be quarantined for 5 days even if they have no symptoms.
In this regard, on December 27, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that at present, all parties need to fight the epidemic scientifically and work together to ensure the safe exchange of personnel from various countries, maintain the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain, and promote the recovery of the world economy.
China always believes that the epidemic prevention measures of various countries should be scientific and appropriate, and should not affect normal personnel exchanges.
According to a report by Yonhap News Agency on December 21, the South Korean epidemic prevention department included China in the list of "key countries for quarantine inspection" to further strengthen the new crown screening measures for people entering China.
According to reports, China has been included in the list of "key countries for quarantine inspection" from the 16th.
This measure is not an entry restriction measure, but an intensification of entry screening for objects with high infection risks and requiring centralized management during the quarantine period at Incheon International Airport.
Entry personnel whose body temperature exceeds 37.5 degrees Celsius are usually classified as symptomatic, while the standard for key quarantine objects is 37.3 degrees Celsius.
Therefore, if the body temperature of the entry personnel from key countries exceeds 37.3 degrees Celsius, they must undergo nucleic acid testing together with their fellow travelers.
(The Paper reporter Liu Chang Tang Yingying Li Xiaoqing Ji Simin Pang Jingtao)