Trip.com Group today showcased its vision for the future of travel at its Envision 2023 global partner conference. The conference was attended by about 700 industry partners globally.
25.08.2023 - 13:49 / skift.com
Travel bookings in China have recovered to pre-pandemic levels after being suppressed last year by zero-COVID policies, and are set to boom for the upcoming May Day holiday, according to data from popular booking apps.
Travel and restaurant booking app Meituan said its bookings for the upcoming May Day holiday from April 29-May 3 had reached a five-year high by the start of this week.
The five-day May holiday is traditionally one of China’s busiest tourist seasons as spring moves into summer. Tourist spending and travel volumes were hit heavily last year by China’s zero-COVID policy to stop the spread of the virus.
Domestic trips made during the holiday in 2021 reached 230 million, a record high, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. But the number dropped 43% to 160 million last year.
“The backlog of consumer travel demand since February is expected to be released during May Day holiday. Major domestic tourist cities and vacation destinations are expected to benefit from this,” said Fang Zeqian, an industry analyst at Trip.com.
The app data is a bright spot for the consumer industry which is still struggling to recover as people tighten their budgets due to worries over the slowing economy and employment.
Jin Hui, CEO of Chinese hotel chains operator H World Group that operates more than 8,500 hotels, said COVID had brought significant changes to people’s shopping habits.
“In the past, when people have money, they will buy clothes and bags,” Jin said. “Today more people are willing to spend on experiences, on holidays and leisure time.”
“The pandemic made people learn that we should enjoy life instead of living in uncertainties.”
(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh Editing by Peter Graff)
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Trip.com Group today showcased its vision for the future of travel at its Envision 2023 global partner conference. The conference was attended by about 700 industry partners globally.
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Trip.com Group said on Friday it had tapped a $1.5 billion sustainability-linked loan facility, meaning that the financing terms link the debt’s interest rates to the Chinese online travel giant’s performance against specific environmental targets.
The situation on the ground in China isn’t ideal as the country readies to remove its travel restrictions this weekend.
Even though China’s recent relaxation of Covid measures is widely seen as a step forward for travel, Trip.com is still cautious in the very near term as winter is usually a slack season for both business and leisure travel.
Luxury hotel companies could flash a half-decent report card this year thanks to a post-pandemic surge in demand. But they could do better long-term if management teams sharpen their focus on opportunities to woo well-off consumers who increasingly care about experiences.
Travelers are hungry for high-end experiences, and there appears to be no sign of the luxury bubble bursting anytime soon, with China still expected to add weight to the post-pandemic revenge travel surge.
Online travel agency Trip.com Group hopes that cross-border travel capacity for China will be back to normal by the third quarter of this year.
U.S. and European airlines will benefit from pent-up demand for travel to China after its recent border reopening, but route approvals, fresh Covid-19 testing rules and not enough large aircraft remain barriers to rising sales, analysts and industry officials say.