May Day holiday travel bookings are hot. Ctrip data show that as of April 7, the “May Day” domestic hotel search heat is the same as the same period in 2023, about twice as much as the same period in 2019; “May Day” domestic ticket search popularity increased by nearly 20% year-on-year, an increase of nearly 30% over the same period in 2019. Medium – and long-term tourism became the protagonist of the “May Day” holiday, accounting for 56%.
Travel has also led to a visa boom. Ctrip visa data show that the “May Day” holiday outbound tourist visas have increased significantly since late February, and the week after the Spring Festival has increased by more than three times. And at a steady rate of 50% per week. From the current number of signers, the number of signers in the “May Day” holiday increased by more than 30% compared with last year, and the transaction volume of signers has exceeded the same period in 2019.
It is understood that in the same period last year, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are not visa-free for China, on this basis, the number of outbound travel visas is still growing year-on-year, indicating that this year’s “May Day” will usher in a larger wave of outbound boom.
From the visa data, “May Day” popular outbound travel countries are: Japan, South Korea, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Canada, New Zealand and so on. The top 10 tourist sources are: Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Xi ‘an, Chongqing, Chengdu.
As the first checkpoint of outbound tourism, the difficulty of visa processing plays a key role. Since last year, the outbound travel visa policy has been favorable, and with the support of the continuous recovery of cross-border flights, the demand for outbound travel has continued to rise. Ctrip’s visa business sales in 2023 recovered to nearly 80% of that in 2019, showing dozens of times growth compared with 2022; Since the beginning of this year, the number of visa holders has increased by more than three times compared with last year, and under the premise of visa-free new Malaysia and Thailand, the visa business for Qingming Festival has still recovered to 90% of that before the epidemic.
The trend of multi-country travel is significant
Thanks to visa facilitation and increased air capacity, China’s inbound and outbound tourism market will develop rapidly in 2024, driving the recovery of the global tourism market. The China Tourism Academy predicts that the number of outbound tourists will reach 130 million in 2024.
As the enthusiasm for outbound tourism has been reignited, more and more tourists are no longer satisfied with only going to one country at a time, or a country only going to one trip, and the demand for outbound multi-country continuous Tours and high frequency outbound Tours has heated up rapidly. Ctrip visa data show that in 2023, the number of people who handled multiple visas in Ctrip accounted for 56%, an increase of 87% compared with 2019. Among them, the number of customers who handled multiple visas for Japan increased significantly, and the number of customers who handled multiple visas for Japan for 5 years was 5 times that of 2019.
For users who need to sign a multi-country tour, Ctrip recently launched a “global visa Black card”. Ctrip’s “Global Visa Black Card” is divided into two versions, the selected version is priced at 13,888 yuan, and the other premium version can enjoy visa upgrade and expedited services. The 10 country visa types include Japan for 5 years, South Korea for 5 years, the United States for 10 years, Canada for 10 years, Australia for 3 years, New Zealand for 5 years, the United Kingdom for 2 years, Turkey for 6 months, Cuba tourist card and Vietnam for 30 days.
Many of the countries involved in Ctrip’s “Global Visa Black card” are countries where visas are difficult to obtain, including Japan and South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the United States with 3, 4 and 5 stars of difficulty. In addition, with the above 10 countries, you can enjoy an additional 14 countries, including: the Philippines, Montenegro, Mexico, Honduras, Dominica, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Gibraltar, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla, Ireland.
(universal brigade) https://www.traveldaily.cn/article/181244
