Leveraging the 6 trillion tourism market, Ctrip: Aiming at the industry growth point in 2024

In 2023, under the promotion of a series of pro-consumption policies, China's tourism industry has entered a rapid recovery process. It is expected that in 2024, the number of domestic tourists and domestic tourism revenue will exceed 6 billion and 6 trillion yuan respectively, and the number of inbound and outbound tourists and international tourism revenue will exceed 264 million and 107 billion US dollars respectively.

With the new changes taking place at both the supply and demand ends of China's tourism industry, the industry is also nurturing new opportunities. How to identify every challenge that quietly arises in the competitive environment, and how to re-understand the shortcomings of the global supply chain?

At the 2024 Ctrip Travel Global Partner Conference held recently, Wang Xiaofan, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Trip.com Group, said, "Entering 2024, Ctrip has set a new goal to achieve a comprehensive leadership in all business lines within 3-5 years. While leading the industry standard, we will work together with supply chain partners to expand the supply of high-quality, distinctive and in-depth tourism services. ”

Group tours are more flexible and transparent

In 2023, the group tour business will usher in a full recovery, and compared with traditional large groups, small groups with flexibility and personalization have gradually become the core choice of users. Last year, Ctrip's private tour accounted for nearly 4 times the proportion of the entire group tour production line compared with 2019, and the sales of domestic private tours increased by nearly 370% year-on-year compared with 2019, and the sales of small groups of 2-9 people increased by more than 100%.

In addition, user reporting is also more fragmented. According to Ctrip's group travel data, the proportion of bookings for one-person trips has increased by 25%, the proportion of short-day trips has increased from 26% in 2019 to 32% now, and the proportion of local group trips has exceeded 58%. Content products are also becoming more and more important to users' decision-making: this is reflected in the fact that the number of live broadcasts of Ctrip's group tours exceeded 10,000 last year, the GMV of live streaming increased by 4.5 times in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the first quarter, the conversion rate of products in live broadcast rooms increased by 21% on average, and the transaction write-off rate of live broadcasts on the site was as high as 91%.

"Young people not only value the price, but also want to enjoy a flexible and personalized travel experience. That's why we're building our products with more free time, more interaction and networking opportunities, and even digital technology to provide travelers with convenient photo and sharing tools. Xiao Yinyuan, head of the group tour business of Ctrip's tourism business group, said.

Xiao Yinyuan further told reporters that in addition to allowing consumers to get what they see and deliver all the product content in the group tour business, Ctrip will continue to increase the group tour business in the next 3-5 years, and continue to promote service standardization and information transparency in the industry.

The key to customized tours is "people"

In the higher-end field of private customization, it highlights the important role of people in the service industry. Last year, the demand for customized tours rebounded sharply, and the demand for customized SLRs on Ctrip's platform exceeded 30% in 2019. In order to cater to the explosive growth of customized tours, Ctrip's customized business will continue to promote the "Customizer Recruitment Plan" in 2024, and work with 1,500 merchant partners, covering 20 provinces and 32 cities to recruit tens of thousands of jobs. Empower more suppliers to find the right talent, and also provide personalized employment opportunities for more young people.

Zhou Zhou, CEO of Ctrip's customization business, further said that the "people-oriented" strategy of customized tours is also reflected in strengthening the personality of customizers by revamping the product homepage and launching the treasure customizer collection page, so that users can quickly choose a customizer that matches their needs.

At the same time, Ctrip will also launch the "Customizer X Store" combination to maximize human efficiency. "Customizers are global destination experts with high service standards and excellent destination knowledge, while offline stores are experts at the origin and have a highly trusted customer base. We can provide customers with 1+1>2 better services by building a social platform for acquaintances between customizers and Ctrip's offline stores, which also brings higher transaction efficiency and better sales results to both parties. Zhou Zhou predicts that domestic customized tours in 2024 are expected to achieve significant growth compared with 2023.

Scenic tour focuses on "shopping + experience"

Compared with the group tour market, the independent travel market is also a vast sky. According to data from Arivel, a global professional entertainment research organization, the total revenue of global travel experience products reached 253 billion US dollars in 2019, making it the third largest tourism sector after transportation and accommodation. In 2024, it is expected to exceed 2019, reaching 260 billion US dollars, exceeding one trillion yuan. Among them, in addition to 45% of the traditional attraction industry, the remaining 54% belong to the more fragmented, experiential entertainment activities and day travel fields.

"We have seen that cultural tourism consumption has become more routine, and social sharing and personalized expression have further enhanced tourists' pursuit of travel experience. It has promoted the outbreak of various interest tourism products such as camping, travel photography, sea catching, and music festivals. Ji Yihua, CEO of Ctrip Ticket Event, said in an interview with reporters.

According to Ctrip data, in 2023, the number of domestic "ticket + X" package products will increase by 85% year-on-year compared with 2022, and the sales volume will increase by 256% year-on-year, and the unit price of domestic "ticket + X" products will increase by 23% year-on-year, of which the proportion of orders above 2,000 yuan will increase by 21 times. In some scenic spots such as Jiuzhaigou, Bipenggou and Siguniang Mountain, the proportion of package sales is close to 100%, and in Xishuangbanna, the proportion of products based on experience packages such as travel photography, rainforest elephant herding, and firefly camping has reached 80%, and the sales volume has increased by 338% compared with 2019.

In fact, starting from the user experience, creating diversified products has become the direction of joint efforts of various travel platforms and merchants, and Ctrip has also leveraged the advantages of its own platform to help merchants seize the dividends of experience consumption scenarios. Ji Yihua said: "The total revenue of global travel experience products is expected to reach US$260 billion in 2024, and Ctrip will actively promote the development of 'scenic spots + experience projects' products to help merchants seize the dividends of experience consumption scenarios. ”

Car rental enters a "new era of service"

In 2023, the field of self-driving travel has also ushered in a peak. According to Ctrip's data, in 2023, the number of domestic car rental orders will double year-on-year, and the length of car rental will increase by 130% year-on-year. In addition, the number of cars is expected to increase to 370 million in 2025, and the number of people with driver's licenses and no cars will exceed 100 million.

At the same time, with the younger generation of the main force of travel, the car rental and self-driving industry is also facing the problem of new changes in supply and demand. Nowadays, car rental users have higher requirements for the service standards of car rental platforms, put forward opinions on new energy vehicles and low-carbon travel, and increase the demand for domestic models...... To some extent, the car rental and self-driving industry has entered a "new era of service".

In this regard, Ctrip has also made innovations and breakthroughs in the platform service experience. Song Zhen, CEO of Ctrip, told reporters that the data shows that in 2023, the post-95 and post-00 car rental users will increase by 150% year-on-year, gradually becoming the core users of car rental and self-driving. "We have launched a VR car viewing function to meet the needs of young people, and expanded the number of offline partner stores to cover 36 international sites around the world and support 12 languages. In addition, it is also the first in Thailand to pilot the exit custody exemption function to reduce the risk of advance funds for users. Song Zhen further said that with the promotion of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality and ESG sustainable development becoming the focus of the country's future development. Ctrip Car Rental is also anchored in long-termism, promoting the coverage of new energy vehicles and green travel. According to statistics, Ctrip's new energy models have covered 236 cities across the country, with an effective inventory of more than 20,000 units.

Source: Huanqiu.com