After waiting for 3 years, the territory of "outbound tourism" has been further expanded. Since February 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism successively announced the list of the first and second batch of outbound group travel countries, and on August 10, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued another notice announcing the expansion of the scale of outbound group business countries. Since then, the number of outbound tour countries has expanded from 60 to 138.
The popularity of outbound travel on National Day is expected to soar
Japan is the most popular group tour
On the morning of August 10, after the news from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism was issued, Ctrip data showed that the instantaneous search for outbound travel products increased by more than 20 times, with the most attention attracted during the Chinese New Year departure period, and the popularity of group products such as Japan and Australia that appeared on the list of the third batch of outbound tour countries soared.
Chao news reporters noted that affected by the news, the A-share aviation airport sector rose 3.46% on the same day, of which China Airlines, Spring Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and other rose by 5%. At the same time, the tourism sector also changed in the afternoon, *ST Caesars (Caesars Travel), which focuses on outbound travel, directly closed the limit and the outbound tour leader Zhongxin Travel also rose by 4.12%.
After the news of the third batch of outbound group tours, no one will feel more intuitive than industry practitioners. Chao News reporters consulted a number of travel agencies in Hangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen on OTA platforms and learned that Japan may be the most popular.
"I received a lot of consultation calls this afternoon, and the most people left for Osaka and Tokyo on National Day, and there were many people in Australia." Manager Chen, who is in charge of outbound travel in a travel agency in Hangzhou, told Chao News that the phone rang non-stop in the afternoon, and many of them were old customers. ”
"It's not an accident to say, we believe that this day will come." Manager Chen said that since the first two batches of outbound group travel country lists were opened at the beginning of this year, colleagues have prepared new products early and are currently busy putting them on the shelves. During the National Day, they plan to focus on tourist routes in Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
New Zealand Photo courtesy of interviewee
"We have the most inquiries in Japan, and we have a pick-up when we arrive in Japan, but we have not received inquiries from Europe for the time being." The person in charge of a Shanghai travel agency told reporters that European visa processing takes 12-14 working days, and now it is scheduled for October, probably for this reason, most people choose to travel with groups in nearby countries.
The person in charge of the Australian and New Zealand route from a travel agency in Shenzhen said that in addition to Japan, there are many people who consult the route of Australia and New Zealand, "The second half of the year is the summer in the southern hemisphere, it is the peak season of Australia and New Zealand, and the visa is relatively convenient. ”
Japan Osaka 受访者供图
40 years of tourism industry practitioners:
The drive and spirit are back to the past
According to the "Outbound Tourism Big Data Report for the First Half of 2023" recently released by the China Tourism Research Institute, outbound destinations received a total of 40.37 million mainland (mainland) tourists in the first half of the year. Short-distance outbound tourism was the first to recover, with 93.95% of tourists concentrated in Asia.
Mr. Qian, who has been in the tourism industry for 40 years, is not too surprised, but his joy is overflowing. He is currently the head of an outbound travel agency in Hangzhou, 61 years old, mainly responsible for Japanese routes.
When the epidemic struck suddenly three years ago, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued an announcement that Mr. Qian and his colleagues were forced to stop work after suspending all group tours, including outbound tours, and "air ticket + hotel" business.
After graduating from his undergraduate Japanese language major, he joined a travel agency, ran between China and Japan, developed and designed routes, and achieved gratifying results with the team, making the company a leader in the industry.
In his own words, "I often work overloaded, go home at one or two o'clock in the morning, although it is very hard, but the performance is made, as far as Japan is concerned, we have the most seats on Japanese routes, and the Japanese special line leader is also the most." ”
Neither Mr. Qian nor his colleagues thought that the outbound tour would last for 3 years. During this period, the travel agency he worked for reduced the scale of the office and shifted from outbound travel to domestic travel. Some of the colleagues he contacted turned on live broadcasts and turned into domestic tour guides to become scenic spot docents, but most of them turned away and became freelancers scattered in all walks of life, "The entire group went from the peak of 1,000 people in 2019 to about 130 people at its most difficult time." ”
"In addition to the backbone of the epidemic in the past three years, they have basically changed careers, but after resuming some outbound business destinations in March this year, some old employees have returned." Mr. Qian told Chao News that during the past three years, he has helped himself while waiting, "such as doing domestic business." ”
Since the country resumed some of the outbound destinations, Mr. Qian has actively organized the resumption of business, and with everyone's efforts, the business has recovered quickly and the company's team has continued to grow. After three years of shutdown, Mr. Qian knows that the market is constantly changing, in addition to the initial supply chain, there is also the customer source structure, so they are also constantly adjusting their products.
New Zealand Photo courtesy of interviewee
"The consumer group has changed from 'post-6070s' to 'post-8090s' or even 'post-00s', so the products naturally have some changes, but tourism is inseparable, and its essence is to allow more people to understand the world, enhance mutual understanding and understanding, and broaden their horizons." For Mr. Qian, in the past three years, he has rested intermittently for a period of time, and his body and mind have been relieved.
In fact, Mr. Qian retired last year, and he once had the idea of saying goodbye to tourism, but since this year, the wave of opening up of the outbound group travel policy has made him "now have the energy and spirit back to the past."
Kyoto Station, Japan Photo courtesy of interviewee
Chao News reporter Xu Yiwen Tan Xiaofeng