In the first half of the year, the number of visa applications has recovered to 50% of 2019, and short-term summer outbound travel is the hottest in the five countries: China | Cuba | outbound travel
The middle and high school entrance exams have come to an end, and the summer outings have begun. The 2023 Summer Booking Trend Insight Report shows that currently, summer outbound flights have returned to over 50% of pre pandemic levels, and the search for summer outbound tickets has also exceeded the same period in 2019. The Ctrip visa platform also predicts that the number of summer exit visa applications this year is expected to exceed the same period in 2019.
From the current visa application situation, summer outbound travel is mainly short-term, with Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Malaysia being the top five popular destinations for summer visa applications. Australia and the United Kingdom have more visa applications for long-distance travel, while most destinations in Europe and America have mediocre performance due to difficulties in booking summer visas.
Since the beginning of this year, the Chinese inbound and outbound tourism market has orderly recovered. The report on the prosperity of China's outbound tourism market in the first half of 2023 released by the World Tourism Union and other institutions shows that the demand for outbound tourism, which has been backlogged for three years, has exploded. The prosperity index of China's outbound tourism market in the first half of this year has exceeded the level of the same period in 2019.
However, the surge in visa requirements is subject to certain restrictions. Recently, many European and American countries have experienced a phenomenon of difficulty in signing contracts. Taking Shanghai as an example, German visas are almost never issued, and Switzerland, Austria, the United States, and others also need to rely on luck to obtain the most recent appointment number. Some countries have also made minor adjustments to their visa procedures, such as Thailand changing from submitting paper documents to online submission and review; Japan's single tourist visa has been piloting electronic visas since mid June.
At the same time, some niche destination countries are intensifying their efforts to seek cooperation with China and seize the peak summer tourism market in China. In mid June, Ctrip signed a cooperation agreement with the Consulate General of Cuba in China. As the first partner of the Cuban tourist card in Shanghai, Ctrip will leverage the service advantages of the visa platform to further facilitate Chinese tourists traveling to Cuba. It is reported that a Cuban tourist card can be equivalent to a Cuban visa, and users who apply for a Cuban tourist card can stay in Cuba for 90 days; The application materials for applying for a Cuban travel card are simple and cost-effective. You can obtain the Cuban travel card through Ctrip within one working day at the fastest.
At present, Ctrip is conducting visa processing services in China, covering 150 destinations worldwide. In the first half of the year, the number of visa processing orders has recovered to about 50% of 2019, a 60 fold increase compared to last year.
Outbound tourism continues to recover, while high-quality tourism consumption has maintained a strong growth momentum since the beginning of this year. This year's 618 shopping festival saw a 128% increase in the transaction volume of Feizhu's high star hotel package products compared to last year. Small and beautiful homestays also became a popular option, and the transaction volume of homestay related package products increased by 125% compared to last year. Many brands exceeded one million yuan in single item transaction volume. In addition, cost-effective products such as flight tickets, business class cards, and car rental cards are also favored, and the sales of transportation package products have increased by more than three times compared to last year.
The data shows that tourism consumption willingness is in an upward range. According to the survey report on urban depositors released by the People's Bank of China in the first quarter of 2023, when asked about projects that plan to increase spending in the next three months, the option of "tourism" showed the highest increase compared to the previous quarter, with a growth rate of 10.7 percentage points to 24%.
