Thailand's deputy prime minister welcoming the first batch of Chinese tourists to the airport seems to have made Chinese tourists feel the enthusiasm they have lost for a long time, and more and more Chinese tourists are eyeing Thailand. On January 11, according to Ctrip, during the Spring Festival holiday, the number of hotel bookings by mainland tourists to Thailand increased by nearly 12 times year-on-year. Thailand's popularity also made netizens call "Sanya and Thailand tourism rolled up", the news also rushed to Weibo hot search, some netizens posted a strategy even showed that Sanya and Thailand and other places air ticket prices are not much different. Before the epidemic, Thailand, as one of the most popular outbound destinations for Chinese tourists, became the first stop for many tourists to go abroad. In the future, with the increase in international flights and the continuous development of travel agency products, overseas tourist destinations such as Thailand will once again become the most popular overseas destinations for Chinese tourists.
Thailand & Sanya The total price of machine wine is similar
After the resumption of outbound travel, Thailand has become another popular destination after Hong Kong. According to Ctrip, hotel bookings destined for Thailand have increased by 480% year-on-year since January, with bookings from Chinese mainland tourists accounting for more than 30%. During the same period, the number of hotel bookings by mainland tourists to Thailand increased by more than 20 times year-on-year, and also doubled compared with the same period last month. During the Spring Festival holiday, the number of hotel bookings by mainland tourists to Thailand increased by nearly 12 times year-on-year. In addition, according to Fliggy data, the number of international air ticket bookings in the past week increased by more than 3 times compared with last year. At the same time, outbound bookings during the Spring Festival rebounded sharply, hitting a three-year peak. Asian destinations accounted for more than half of bookings, with Thailand surging nearly 20 times.
The popularity of Thai tourism during the Spring Festival has also made many tourists pay more attention to this tourist destination, and even some netizens posted a strategy "The price of air tickets and hotels in Sanya and Thailand is not much different".
In this regard, the Beijing Business Daily reporter also calculated an account: taking the 5-day travel itinerary from January 21 (Chinese New Year's Eve) to 26 (the fifth day of the first year) as an example, according to the price of Ctrip Travel App, the lowest single ticket price from Beijing to Sanya on January 21 was 1320 yuan, and the air ticket price from Sanya to Beijing on January 26 was 2790 yuan, such as 2 people staying in the luxury pool king room of JW Marriott Resort Sanya Haitang Bay for 5 nights, a total of 31835 yuan is required, which means that one person needs to spend about 20,000 yuan. On the other hand, from January 21 to 26, the lowest price of a single round-trip ticket from Beijing to Phuket is 7,568 yuan, and two people staying in the luxury hotel Banyan Tree Phuket Pool Villa cost about 27,855 yuan for 5 nights, and the total cost of one person traveling is about 21,500 yuan. In contrast, during the Spring Festival, tourists spend on Sanya to travel to Thailand at a similar cost.
It is still difficult to fly less directly
According to Gu Huimin, a professor at the School of Tourism Science of Beijing Second University of Foreign Chinese, considering that there are currently fewer direct flights to Thailand, the price of round-trip air tickets in Thailand is still at a high level, coupled with the cost of transportation time, more consumers will go to Sanya during the Spring Festival. After all, Sanya is in China, and traveling to Thailand involves visa, language and other issues, and the complexity of overseas travel decisions is much higher than that of domestic travel.
"Before the epidemic, when we traveled to Sanya during the Spring Festival, it cost about 20,000 yuan for one person to stay and return air tickets for 5 days, while Thailand only needed about 10,000 yuan." Xue Hong, a travel enthusiast, told the Beijing Business Daily reporter, "Before 2019, I had planned to travel to Sanya during the Spring Festival, but calculated that because the hotel cost more, I finally chose to visit Thailand, which has a similar climate." ”
Some travel agency operators said that before the epidemic, the "5 to 6 days Bangkok-Pattaya" group tour was about 4000-5000 yuan / person on weekdays, and it could reach 7000-8000 yuan / person during the Spring Festival.
As Xue said, before the pandemic, Thailand had been one of the hottest overseas destinations favored by Chinese consumers. Relevant data shows that in 2019, before the epidemic, more than 10 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand, accounting for a quarter of the total number of foreign tourists entering Thailand that year.
"At present, Thailand's entry policy for Chinese tourists is relatively friendly, so we have also considered traveling to Thailand this Spring Festival, but because there are fewer direct flights and the overall price of air tickets is more expensive, we plan to put the plan back." Xue Hong said.
A reporter from Beijing Business Daily inquired from the Flying Changzhun App that there were only 2 direct flights from Beijing to Bangkok from January 16 to 22, and there were no direct flights from Beijing to Chiang Mai.
In view of the different travel costs of traveling to Thailand before and after the epidemic, Wu Liyun, associate professor of the China Culture and Tourism Industry Research Institute of Beijing Second University of Foreign Chinese Affairs, pointed out that the resumption of international flights and the increase in supply are important factors affecting the price of outbound travel. In the three years of the epidemic, Thailand's tourism industry has actually been greatly affected, and on the supply side, with the changes of the epidemic, some enterprises may not be able to survive, resulting in the supply is not as sufficient as before the epidemic. At the same time, the limited number of international flights will also lead to the cost of the entire trip to Thailand.
Thailand is expected to be the hottest destination for outbound shipments
"With the slow resumption of international flights to Thailand and Thailand's friendly attitude towards Chinese nationals, Thailand may become a popular destination for Chinese citizens to travel abroad during the Spring Festival." Wu Liyun said.
According to the Bangkok Post, at present, there are one direct flight daily from China to Chiang Mai and three direct flights to Phuket, and direct flights between the two countries will increase in the future. Wichit Kaeosaithiam, head of Chiang Mai Airport, said flights between Shanghai and Chiang Mai will begin operations on Jan. 18, as will flights from Guangzhou to Chiang Mai on Jan. 20, while several other flights from Beijing, Chengdu to Chiang Mai and Shanghai to northern Thai cities are awaiting approval.
Hainan Airlines plans to resume direct flights between Beijing and Bangkok on January 20, which is Hainan Airlines' first Thai route. It is understood that the Beijing-Bangkok route plans to carry out three round-trip flights per week, with the outbound trip every Wednesday, Friday and July, and the return trip every Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
While encrypting flights, Thailand is also very welcoming to Chinese tourists. Thailand has now lifted a previously announced entry policy and no longer requires international travelers to show proof of vaccination. "Thailand's tourism industry is ready to welcome Chinese tourists." Cui Yan, Regional General Manager of Ctrip Grand Accommodation Thailand, who is working in Bangkok, said, "Ctrip launched the 'Fun Abroad Holiday Thailand' session on January 11, which was enthusiastically supported by users as soon as Zero was launched. Popular hotel products in many destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Phuket and other destinations are constantly being sold out, which can be said to be 'one room is hard to find'. We have been busy communicating with hotels in Thailand today, hoping to get more preferential product inventory. ”
The Tourism Authority of Thailand said that the return of Chinese tourists will boost Thailand's tourism industry, and it is expected that the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand will reach 300,000 in the first quarter of this year, and the number of Chinese tourists will reach 5 million throughout the year.
"It is expected that in the near future, Thailand will recreate the scene of Chinese tourists coming to the scene." Gu Huimin said.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Wu Qiyun