Booking Holdings boss Glenn Fogel has often described China as the locomotive of travel growth.
But after a three-year shutdown, the country’s ability to bounce back
in the region as well as internationally is under scrutiny.
The consensus is that recovery will be rapid, and it seems a number
of trends are already playing out while new traveller behaviours are
emerging.
Last month a report from an event organised by WebinTravel, Travel Daily China and Accor revealed that Trip.com
Group saw an immediate 250% boost to bookings after 8 January. In
addition, between 1 January and 15 March, the online travel agency’s
bookings increased 1,000% year over year.
Meanwhile, research from Travelport revealed a 247% increase in
outbound flight bookings from mainland China on 8 January over month.
Further trends were also highlighted at the China Arising event such as air capacity constraints and the ongoing popularity of live-streamed travel events.
In January, for example, Trip.com
Boss Live Show in Thailand reaped US$6 million in bookings in three
hours, demonstrating the popularity of the medium for travel retailing
in the region.
App and away
But probably the biggest shift being monitored is the increasing
popularity of new as well as existing apps such as review service Little
Red Book/Xiaohongshu, Douyin and WeChat for travel-related activities.
A recent report from Lufthansa Innovation Hub’s research arm TNMT,
which delves into emerging trends in travel in China, touches on some of
the trends above as well as highlighting new ones.
For example, the TNMT study also flagged the rise of Douyin,
Bytedance’s TikTok for China, and said the platform’s e-commerce
functionality is likely to expand into more travel categories and “has
the potential to become the leading comprehensive Chinese [online travel
agency], encompassing all aspects of travel booking.”
The report also revealed that Douyin has significant mobile engagement compared with existing China-based OTAs.
It puts the number of “travel enthusiasts” on Douyin, defined as
those who have liked travel videos more than five times a month,
increasing from 240 million to 270 million between 2021 and 2022.
In addition, the number of travel videos on the platform has grown
from almost 8 million in 2021 to just over 22 million last year.
Last week a story on China Travel news said Douyin had launched
calendar-based hotel booking with instant-booking functionality, a
development that is likely to appeal to the spontaneous nature of Gen Z.
Phocuswright research reveals mobile gross bookings in 2023 in
Northeast Asia will easily surpass 2019 levels. It estimates about US$11
billion in mobile gross bookings in 2025, more than double the 2019
record.
While OTAs such as Expedia and Booking are looking to make more of
their mobile apps, it remains to be seen whether they can attract newer
generations in the way that TikTok does in the West and Douyin in China.
TNMT also highlighted the influence on consumers of platforms including Douyin, ctrip.com and WeChat and the travel deals they promote.
It advised travel companies wanting to attract these consumers to
ensure they are present and promoting themselves on these platforms and
the sales channels they offer.
TNMT’s report said: “By understanding and adapting to this emerging
trend, businesses can successfully capture the attention of the growing
Chinese travel market and meet their evolving preferences in the
post-pandemic era. Embracing these platforms and strategies will enable
travel companies to not only increase their visibility but also tap into
the immense potential of the value-driven Chinese traveller.”
The need to be on these apps is further driven by usage of home apps
while travelling. And China-based technology players are partnering with
local companies to ensure a seamless experience for Chinese travellers
abroad.
A good example is Alibaba’s travel platform Fliggy, which recently
announced a tie-up with experiences marketplace GlobalTix. The
partnership enables Chinese travelers to research and book tours and
activities across 40 countries.
TNMT also points to Xiaohongshu use outside China, by Chinese expats
and immigrants, to post image and video reviews of local businesses.
The giant awakes
Travel executives based in Asia have predicted the pent-up demand waiting to be unleashed from China and the surrounding region for the past year.
At The Phocuswright Conference 2022, Tim Hughes, vice president of
corporate growth of Agoda, said that the opening up of Japan and South
Korea alone had been crazy, adding that if 2023 "sees the Chinese come
to Asia, it will be demand like none of us have ever seen."
Travelport’s research also revealed that in 2019 China had the most travellers visiting destinations outside their home country.
It pointed to further research from the United Nations World Tourism
Organization and China Tourism Academy that revealed 150 million Chinese
tourists travelled internationally in 2019 and spent US$277 billion on
tourism.
But with outbound bookings from mainland China only at 21% of 2019
levels, according to the Travelport research published in late April,
the questions circling are whether the industry is ready and how
sustainable is it?
Source: PhocusWire