From Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to Xi’an, Chongqing, Chengdu and other places, foreign tourists are all over China. In the face of this huge and unlimited potential market, OTA platforms such as Ctrip, Fliggy, and Tongcheng have increased their investment to actively seize the inbound tourism market by launching special tourism products, optimizing service experience, and using AI technology to help. At the same time, inbound tourism entrepreneurs have also poured in, trying to get a piece of the future-oriented competition.
The first “May Day” holiday after the implementation of the 240-hour transit visa-free policy set off a new boom in inbound tourism.
According to the National Immigration Administration, a total of 10.896 million Chinese and foreign people entered and exited during this year’s May Day holiday, with a daily average of 2.179 million, an increase of 28.7% over last year’s May Day holiday. 1.115 million foreigners entered and exited, a year-on-year increase of 43.1%; Among the foreigners entering the country, 380,000 people were admitted under the visa-free policy, a year-on-year increase of 72.7%.
From the implementation of the visa-free policy to the popularity of the Chinese trip to the Internet and the “Bitter Citrus to Meet You” has once again increased the number of tourists in Zhangjiajie, “China travel” is becoming a global trend. Moreover, in addition to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, foreign tourists are now in love with Xi’an to see the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Chongqing to admire 8D buildings, and Chengdu to see giant pandas, and the purposes and entertainment methods of inbound tourism are becoming increasingly diversified.
In the face of this big cake, a group of inbound tourism entrepreneurs have begun to emerge in China, and platforms such as Ctrip, Qunar, Fliggy, and Tongcheng have also increased their investment in inbound tourism projects, and a future-oriented contest has just begun.
Foreign tourists don’t like to make movies and love experiences
The May Day holiday has just ended, but Vicky’s part-time job is not over. In 2023, Vicky obtained an English tour guide certificate, and then joined a travel agency to increase her income by hosting foreign tourists on weekends and holidays.
During May Day, Vicky received two groups of foreign tourists, one from Romania, and her parents traveled to Chongqing with their two children who were in high school. “Chongqing is very famous on the Internet, so now more and more European tourists are coming to travel, and they will also name to check in at Liziba Light Rail Station and Hongya Cave.”
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Vicky accompanied this group of families for 3 days, taking them to check in the Liberation Monument, Kuixing Tower, Ciqikou, Liziba and Dazu Stone Carvings, what impressed Vicky was that this group of family groups paid attention to a sense of in-depth experience and was very interested in Chongqing’s local culture, so Vicky also introduced Chongqing’s Anti-Japanese War culture and wharf culture to the other party in detail.
“There is actually a big difference between foreign tourists and Chinese tourists, for the tourists I have received, they are of course full of curiosity about Internet celebrity attractions on the Internet after coming to Chongqing, a magical 8D city, but after arriving at the attractions, they usually just simply take a group photo, do not pursue the film, and especially hope that I can introduce the historical stories and culture here.” Vicky talked about the zinc scale, and after figuring out this need, she also made up for more historical and humanities homework.
At present, Vicky’s income as a part-time English tour guide is 500-700 yuan/day, depending on the size of the team, according to her judgment, the number and scale of inbound tours are steadily increasing, and she is considering becoming a full-time English tour guide.
The popularity of the “hyperthyroidism” China tour has skyrocketed on the Internet
He has been engaged in foreign trade and exports for more than ten years, and is often responsible for receiving foreign customers and arranging food, clothing, housing and transportation, so whether it is personal travel or business reception, there is no problem. At the same time, Wang Yi has learned coffee and tea art, which allows foreign tourists to experience the intangible cultural heritage of Song Dynasty tea.
In March this year, Wang Yi looked for an entrepreneurial partner, and finally found a partner with first-hand resources and travel agency qualifications, and the inbound travel business was officially launched.
Due to the complicated preparatory work in the early stage, Wang Yi’s inbound travel agency has not successfully received orders during the May Day period, but he said, “To do inbound tours, the early preparation is done, and then there is no need to worry about orders.” ”
Foreign tourists experience traditional Chinese culture Source: Tongliangrong Media Center
“Overseas social media must be as full coverage as possible, and it is necessary to grasp the audience preferences of each platform, such as ins to post the beautiful scenery of China, Facebook to add groups to make friends by answering questions, Tiktok to appear in real life + rub hot spots, especially wearing Hanfu, cheongsam and other costumes to appear on the scene is easy to produce memory points due to cultural differences.” Wang Yi said.
In addition, Wang Yi believes that there is another very important preliminary preparation for inbound tourism, that is, to establish an accurate demand base for inbound tourism of foreign tourists.
According to Wang Yi’s observation, 90% of domestic travel agencies are posting promotional photos of group trips, but 90% of foreign tourists are repeatedly asking how to come to China. There are huge cultural differences between home and abroad, so there will also be huge differences in demand, and what Wang Yi is now working on is a demand base that contains real-time updates on visa policies, airport strategies and cultural taboos.
Wang Yi believes thatThe rise of inbound tourism is the general trend, but accurately meeting the needs of foreign tourists is the more scarce competitiveness of the inbound tourism industry.
The next battlefield for OTA platforms
Since China has successively implemented a unilateral visa-free policy for 38 countries, the popularity of “China Travel” has been rising.
According to the data, from January to November 2024, 29.218 million foreigners entered the country at various ports across the country, a year-on-year increase of 86.2%; Among them, 17.446 million people entered the country visa-free, a year-on-year increase of 123.3%. The number of foreigners who came to China under the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy increased by 132.9% year-on-year.
The just-concluded May Day holiday is the first May Day holiday after the implementation of the 240-hour transit visa-free policy, and the performance of inbound tourism is particularly eye-catching. According to Ctrip data, the number of inbound tourism orders during the “May Day” period more than doubled year-on-year, and cultural experience and diversified gameplay have become the core driving force for attracting foreign tourists.
In the past year, the number of foreigners appearing on the streets of China has visibly increased, Koreans have become popular to “go to China on Fridays after work”, and European tourists love the magical 8D city of Chongqing and Sichuan, the hometown of giant pandas……Foreigners are flying to experience the real China, and the long-dormant platforms and practitioners have also found a new direction.
Source: Ctrip Travel
In April last year, Ctrip Group opened a service station at Shanghai Pudong Airport and launched the first “Free Shanghai Half-Day Tour” project to provide one-stop inbound tourism services to international passengers transiting in Shanghai. At the end of the year, Ctrip launched a free half-day tour of Beijing, including free transportation, foreign language guide explanations, attraction tickets and free Internet services.
Zinc Scale learned that Ctrip also continues to promote the “Super China” brand in major source markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea, and launches full-link products and services such as transportation, accommodation, and play.
Fliggy is also actively linking with overseas destinations and tourism bureaus to serve international friends to travel to China. In January last year, in the “Hello! China” – At the Malaysia special event of the 2024 North China Ice and Snow Tourism Overseas Promotion Season, Fliggy and Alipay officially launched the “China Tour Air Ticket Plan” to provide subsidies for overseas tourists who intend to travel to China. Subsequently, the plan has landed in the United Arab Emirates and other places, and the scope of subsidies has been expanded to hotels and train tickets in the “China Inbound Tour Shanghai Station”.
Ctrip launches a free half-day tour of Beijing
In addition to laying out related businesses and breaking the ice with resources, OTA platforms are also using AI products to help the development of inbound tourism.
Not long ago, Tongcheng Travel released an upgraded version of “Chengxin AI”, and also launched a new domain name – “DeepTrip.com” to serve domestic and international tourists, providing Chinese itinerary planning services for tourists in 9 languages, helping users complete the whole process from itinerary planning to product booking more smoothly, and realizing a closed loop from “AI recommendation” to “AI decision execution + booking execution”.
At almost the same time, Fliggy also launched a new generation of travel AI “Ask”, taking into account multiple identity functions such as smart transportation consultants, hotel consultants, route customizers, budget managers, and service guarantee specialists, and also connected to the platform’s quotation engine to call air tickets, hotel prices and other data in real time, and can also recommend local life service information such as convenience stores, restaurants, cafes, and gyms based on the user’s real-time location.
Driven by policy and technology, inbound tourism will continue to heat up, which is not only an opportunity to polish China’s business card, but also an opportunity to broaden the inbound tourism market. At the same time, with the subdivision of the requirements of foreign tourists to China for in-depth tourism, sub-regional and themed in-depth tours may become the next competition point for platforms and inbound tourism entrepreneurs.
