At about 3:15 on March 7, nearly 30 tourists set off by train in Guangzhou to start a five-day cross-border trip to Vietnam. After the resumption of the second batch of national pilot outbound group tours, the tourism market is also quietly changing. In addition to the first recovery of Vietnam tours, France, Italy and Switzerland and other European routes have also been restarted, but compared with three years ago, prices are generally high, which makes some tourists "prohibitive". In addition, some countries along the Middle East and Africa have also received good attention. At present, outbound tourism is recovering rapidly, and once niche destinations are entering the field of view of tourists.
The minimum airfare to Vietnam is only more than 800 yuan
"After so long, I can finally go to Vietnam with my wife." Huang Wu (pseudonym), a 71-year-old elderly tourist, lamented. Huang Wu is the oldest tourist in the first tour of Guangzhou, and he is very excited to participate in the outbound tour again after many years.
After the liberalization of the second batch of outbound group tours, Vietnam became one of the first destinations to recover. In addition to the group departing on the first day, the Guangzhou tour to Vietnam will also depart on March 3, and the group will go to Ho Chi Minh City, Mui Ne, Nha Trang and other places.
As an office worker, Wang Wei (pseudonym) plans to take annual leave to travel to Vietnam after learning that Vietnam is included in the list of countries that have resumed outbound group travel on the second batch of pilot projects. Speaking about why she chose Vietnam as the preferred destination for this outbound destination, she said: "Compared with other destinations, the prices of air tickets and hotel products in Vietnam are relatively cheap, and the one-week vacation time is just enough. ”
On Ctrip's platform, semi-self-guided tours to Vietnam departing at the end of March cost as little as about 3,3500 yuan. In terms of air ticket prices, according to Qunar data, at present, China has direct flights to destinations such as Vietnam, Greece, France, Iran, Kazakhstan, Italy, Portugal and so on, among which there are more flights to Vietnam and lower air ticket prices. According to Ctrip's app, taking the Beijing-Ho Chi Minh City route as an example, the lowest ticket price in March is 3 yuan, and the lowest price for direct flights is 848,1770 yuan.
Ctrip's app also shows that since the beginning of this year, the number of air ticket bookings for Chinese mainland tourists to Vietnam has increased by 22 times year-on-year, and hotel orders have increased by nearly 18 times.
Gu Huimin, professor at the School of Tourism Science of Beijing Second Foreign Chinese University, said: "In the list of outbound group tour countries resumed by the second batch of pilot resumption, Vietnam's local ability to receive Chinese tourists is relatively mature, and it has advantages in culture, distance, language, and relatively low prices, which is an easy destination for travel agencies to operate. ”
The price of France, Italy and Switzerland private groups is getting higher
The release of the second batch of outbound group tour country lists has also restarted the traditional European tour routes such as "France, Italy and Switzerland" and "Spanish and Portuguese", and the attention has continued to soar. "After the resumption of the first batch of outbound group tours, the main travel to Europe is Switzerland. And now it can basically form the 'France-Italy-Sweden' traditional European route. A relevant person in charge of a travel agency said.
Li Mengran, media public relations manager of Zhongxin Travel Group, said frankly that at present, traditional European destinations such as France, Spain, and Italy have attracted a lot of attention, and the company has also prepared a variety of European route products. However, from the perspective of price, the price of European travel products has increased significantly compared with 2019.
Chen Shiqi (pseudonym), an elderly tourist who has been retired for many years and loves to travel, said: "In 2019, the price of the 'France-Italy-Rui' 10-day tour boutique group was about 2,3 yuan, and now the 'France-Italy-Rui' private tour is basically 4,<> or <>,<> yuan, and the price has nearly doubled. ”
Li Mengran said that from the performance of the Beijing market, not only the "France, Italy, Rui" line, but also other European line products have also grown significantly. It is reported that the price of the 10-day tour around Iceland launched by CYTS Aoyou is priced from 49999,<> yuan, which is a certain increase compared with three years ago.
"The main reason is that the cost of transportation is higher, and the prices of local hotels and meals have increased to a certain extent. In addition, the products we currently launch are mainly small packages and full price. The higher the quality, the corresponding increase in cost. Li Mengran said.
Li Peng, Head of Outbound Long-Term Products at Tuniu, also said: "In the early days of outbound tourism, it was mainly mid-to-high-end customers who chose outbound travel, which were smaller than pre-pandemic mass tourism, and many of them were tourists with rich travel experience, and preferred to choose relatively high-quality and niche products and focus on experience. ”
"Judging from the recovery of local ground connections, at present, some European countries have not fully restored hotels, tour guides, etc. serving China." Zhang Huan, founder of Giro E-Italia, who focuses on Italian ground access services, said: "At present, the number of Chinese tourists has not reached the level of 2019, so many corresponding resources have not fully recovered, which has increased the price of group tour products. ”
"However, with the recovery of the industrial chain, the price of travel to Europe may fall next." Zhang Huan also said.
The Dubai launch group was sold out in two days of launch
In addition to the attention of European travel, international tourism destinations with great growth potential have emerged in the current outbound travel market.
"On Tuniu's platform, some countries along the Middle East and Africa, including Iran, have also been popular destinations for user inquiries for more than a month. For tourists, the willingness to visit non-traditional destinations is growing. For travel agencies, the expansion of the scope of outbound travel destinations and the expansion of more directions are a major benefit to the further recovery of outbound tourism business."
It is understood that the first group of Zhongxin Travel Dubai, the first group in South Africa and the first group in Egypt were all quickly full after the launch, among which the Dubai first group was all sold out within 2 days of launch. Li Mengran said: "With the liberalization of the second batch of outbound group tour countries, the popularity of long-term tourist destinations across continents has soared. Tourist focus is also shifting from Southeast Asian countries to more distant intercontinental destinations. ”
Zhong Hui, chairman of Shangyou Hui Cultural Tourism, said that after the liberalization of the second batch of outbound group tour countries, it will be of great help to the product portfolio, research and development and product connection of travel agencies, making travel agencies more convenient to operate. At present, due to the long cycle of product development, design and customer acquisition, it will still take time for long-term outbound products to recover further.
New travel demand also requires travel agencies to actively respond. Shi Tao, Director of Marketing Department of Shenzhou International Travel Service Group, said: "The liberalization of outbound group tours in batches also gives travel agencies the opportunity to quietly study the destination culture and inventory local resources. At present, travel agencies still need to enrich their products, combine the diversity of destinations and the depth of content, and bring tourists a unique product experience. ”
Beijing Business Daily reporter Guan Zichen Zhang Yiran