Online orders for domestic travel during the May Day holiday have basically reached the same level in 2019

Online orders for domestic travel during the "May Day" holiday have basically reached the same level in 2019——

The recovery of tourism is getting better

Reporter Zhang Xue

Since the New Year's Day and Spring Festival holidays this year, the tourism market has achieved a "good start", the trend of high opening and steady growth has continued, and the "May Day" holiday is expected to add another fire to the recovery of the tourism market.

Approaching the May Day holiday, major online travel companies, travel agencies, scenic spots, hotels, etc. have successively ushered in the peak of bookings. Based on the data of some online travel companies, domestic travel orders during the May Day holiday have basically reached the level of 2019, and the popularity of outbound and inbound tourism has continued to rise.

According to data from Ctrip.com, as of April 4, the number of domestic travel bookings during the May Day holiday increased by more than 16 times year-on-year, matching the level of the same period in 12. Outbound travel bookings increased by more than 2019 times year-on-year. According to data from Meituan and Dianping, as of April 18, the number of bookings for domestic accommodation, transportation, scenic spot tickets and other items during the "May Day" holiday has increased by about 4% compared with the same period in 10.

Ma Yiliang, chief statistician of the China Tourism Academy (data center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), said that the gradient diffusion characteristics of the recovery of the tourism market are more obvious, the market recovery in economically active areas is faster, and the "May Day" holiday will be an important window period for the comprehensive spread of travel enthusiasm.

The continuous recovery of the tourism market is the result of the effective boost of consumer confidence and the accelerated release of consumer demand, as well as the harvest of business entities innovating and changing and operating attentively.

Since the beginning of this year, Xi'an has been a popular tourist destination. From the smiling tumbler sister to the humorous "Sheng Tang Secret Box", Xi'an uses the Internet to turn traffic into a flow of people, attracting tourists to feel the charm of the city in a way that can be touched, interacted, tasted and experienced.

The market recovery also benefited from the continuous release of policy effects. From taking out real money to issue cultural tourism consumption coupons, to reducing or reducing tickets for scenic spots, to standardizing the order of the tourism market and improving the level of service guarantee... All localities regard tourism as the "main battlefield" to expand domestic demand and boost consumption. Not long ago, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the launch of the 2023 cultural and tourism consumption promotion activities, introducing a number of consumption scenarios and measures to benefit the people to further stimulate tourism consumption.

The epidemic has changed consumers' concepts and habits, and the past business methods and product structure may not be able to adapt to new changes in the market, which requires business entities to continue to innovate and change to better meet the needs of consumption upgrading.

The market is back and the product must keep up. Traditional group travel is one of the travel business sectors most affected by the pandemic. Now that the market has recovered, tour groups everywhere are rushing to return. "Since the Spring Festival, the recovery of group tours is gratifying." Yang Yang, general manager of Beijing Spring Travel Agency, told reporters that a considerable number of the main force in group tours are newly retired elderly people, who have new consumption concepts and strong consumption power, and increasingly need high-quality group tour products.

"In the past, group travel products were mainly driven by resources and price, and then backwards were pushed back to product design." Yang Yang introduced that now this model is no longer feasible, and it is necessary to transform to demand-driven and pay more attention to the study of the behavior characteristics and consumption habits of the elderly.

Also quietly changing is the homestay market. "After the resumption of inter-provincial travel and outbound tourism, the number of local tourists in Beijing suburban guesthouses has decreased." Yang Lin, the manager of Beijing Huairou Dian Cui Inn Leather Courtyard B&B, told reporters that in the face of market changes, he has made positive adjustments in operation, enriched product supply, optimized service quality, and improved tourist experience.

On March 3, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the resumption of the national travel agency and online travel enterprises to operate inbound group travel and "air ticket + hotel" business for foreigners, coupled with the resumption of the previous outbound group travel and "air ticket + hotel" pilot, the outbound and inbound tourism markets have become lively again.

Jiang Wen, CEO of Ctrip.com Group Tours, said that the majority of consumers who signed up for outbound tours during the May Day holiday were young people, with nearly 18% of outbound tourists aged 40 to <>.

Airlines are accelerating the resumption of international and regional routes. The data showed that cross-border flights recovered to 1% of the same period in 2019 in January, 10% in February and 2% in mid-to-early March.

"May Day outbound travel will usher in the first wave of growth this year, further driving the resumption of airlines and the recovery of local service capabilities." Sun Jie, CEO of Ctrip Group, believes that the May Day holiday will be a major test for outbound travel destinations, and destination partners should maintain communication with the upstream and downstream of the industry, quickly improve service acceptance capabilities, and provide better performance services for Chinese tourists.