A shift towards experiential journeys, growing demand for premium travel options – Indians approach to travel is evolving, according to Mukul Sukhani, senior vice president of business development at Mastercard.
25.08.2023 - 13:10 / skift.com / Peden Doma Bhutia
As Chinese travel agents embrace modern communication channels to stay relevant, a survey by Dragon Trail Research has found that millennials and those born after the 1990s are the driving force behind the travel agent business in China.
The widely popular messaging platform, WeChat, plays a crucial role: A majority of travel agents reported making sales through their official WeChat accounts.
Riding on China’s livestreaming frenzy, travel agents are also using the medium as an online marketing and sales channel. Livestreaming sales in China reached $480 billion last year and are projected to grow by 30% this year, according to research firm eMarketer.
Dragon Trail Research conducted an 18-question online survey of travel agents currently selling outbound travel for mainland Chinese travel agencies.
The survey findings highlight the challenges since China reopened its borders over six months ago. Obtaining visas and high prices, particularly airfares, have been major hurdles. Additionally, many remain hesitant to venture abroad.
Skift Research’s State of Travel 2023 report also found that high prices and inflation are significantly influencing purchasing decisions among Chinese consumers.
China’s second-quarter GDP released last week fell short of expectations, indicating that cautious consumer confidence is acting as a drag on the economy’s fragile progress.
The Dragon Trail survey delved deeper into the pricing dynamics for different regions. Trips to the Americas and Europe commanded the highest prices, with a little less than half of the respondents reporting trip costs between $1,395-$2,789 per person and some saying it costs even more.
On the other hand, trips to Southeast and North Asia fell within the relatively more accessible price range of $279-$1,395 per person.
Despite visa issues and high-priced tickets, Europe emerges as the most promising destination.
Ranking second and third on the list of potential outbound travel destinations for 2024 are Southeast Asia and North America.
The survey also shows rising interest in Central Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East.
Despite North Asia being a region where 60% of travel agents currently offer travel packages, there is a sense of caution and relative pessimism regarding the potential for sales to this region in the upcoming year.
Skift’s State of Travel noted a decline in long-haul travel from China. However, it also highlights the persistent wanderlust among Chinese travelers for international trips, with dreams of exploring Europe and North America topping the list.
Shedding light on the evolving trends in outbound travel, the survey reveals that independent and small group travel experiences have taken center stage.
Notably, the trend
A shift towards experiential journeys, growing demand for premium travel options – Indians approach to travel is evolving, according to Mukul Sukhani, senior vice president of business development at Mastercard.
Marketers beware: Prior ways of marketing to Chinese consumers, including travelers, won’t work as well today because their preferences changed during the pandemic.
China’s latest loosening of its stringent zero-Covid policy, mostly for domestic tourism, comes across as too little too late, at a time when the rest of the world is living with the virus.
Looking to position itself as a leading tourism destination in the Middle East, Dubai has scrapped the 30 percent municipality tax on alcohol for what has been called a trial period of one year, till December 31. Also, tourists and expats will no longer need to pay a fee to secure a personal liquor license to purchase alcoholic beverages. However, an Emirates ID, or passport for tourists, will still be required. The change that came into effect from Sunday, was confirmed by Maritime and Mercantile International, one of the biggest alcohol retailers in the United Arab Emirates and a subsidiary of the state-owned Emirates Group.
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.
Chinese travelers cite financial constraints over the last three years as the leading reason for not wanting to travel abroad even as China decided to end its zero-Covid policy by easing travel restrictions, according to a report.
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.
India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country later this year, as China begins to decline and India’s population growth shows no sign of slowing until 2064. That shift carries huge implications for travel across the globe, and has the potential to rewire the race for attracting global tourists around the world. Skift addressed this in its Megatrends 2023 package in the story India Becoming the New China in the Reordering of Asia Travel.
Having witnessed a stronger than expected recovery in 2022, the Middle East could see international tourist arrivals return to pre-pandemic levels this year, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Data from the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer noted that while all regions enjoyed significant increase in international arrivals in 2022 over the previous year, the Middle East recorded the strongest relative increase as international tourist numbers climbed to 83 percent of pre-pandemic numbers last year. “The region welcomed large events such as Expo 2020 Dubai and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as well as a highly attended Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia,” noted UNWTO in its report. “UNWTO anticipates a strong year for the sector even in the face of diverse challenges including the economic situation and continued geopolitical uncertainty,” Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili said. UNWTO noted that over 900 million tourists travelled internationally in 2022, which was double the number of those who travelled in 2021 though still 37 percent below 2019.
India is expected to overtake Germany to become the world’s third most powerful travel and tourism market by 2032, according to World Travel and Tourism Council’s Economic Impact Research.
While airlines not running international flights at the pre-pandemic level could be a short-term bottleneck, Chinese online travel agency Trip.com Group believes the country’s outbound travel will start to pick up in the second quarter when flight capacity gradually recovers.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, March 15. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.