China outbound tourism could take two years to recover

This is what Vice-President at Uni Core Communication Ning Guoxin told a panel of China tourism experts at a recent event. As such, he reasoned, domestic travel will become mainstream.

Indeed, it seems that domestic tourism will be key to leading the economic recovery of China’s tourism market; a recent National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in China generated 637 million domestic tourist arrivals over an eight-day period – which equates to about 79 per cent of the amount seen in 2019.

Still, Dr Tongqian Tony Zou, Assistant President at Beijing International Studies University, noted that it would take at least six months for people to start taking holidays, and long-haul tourism could take even longer to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

Technology an important aspect to travel restoration

In addition to identifying that consumers in China are opting for shorter, domestic trips, the panel noted that technology was playing a significant role in the revival of travel. Many operators have, in fact, even begun offering ‘virtual travel’ experiences in order to maintain their market presence. Staying in the customer’s mind is absolutely vital for tour operators and travel organisers during these difficult times, as it will help companies to obtain greater market penetration as travel restrictions begin to lift, and travel confidence improves.

The travel industry should also keep an eye on some of the key travel trends that are emerging as 2020 comes to a close. Developing offerings better suited to consumer demands and certain demographics could be the key to maintaining success and a blooming recovery as we move into the new year.