Is the outbound tourism market entering its golden decade? OTA platforms may become the biggest winners.
With the gradual recovery of the outbound tourism market in China, a huge market is reopening. According to data, the number of outbound tourists in China in 2019 was nearly 170 million, accounting for 7.6% of the global outbound tourist population, and the import volume of travel was over $250 billion. After the impact of the epidemic, the market is in a rapid recovery process, and OTA platforms are playing a key role in leading the market transformation in this process.
Upgrade of outbound tourism demand, rise of new travel modes
With the continuous development of China's economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for outbound tourism is undergoing a qualitative change. High-end cities and young groups are the mainstay of outbound tourism, and they are more inclined to experience consumption and constantly improve the quality of travel. At the same time, the choice of destinations is gradually expanding from near to far, and the Asia-Pacific region and more distant destinations are gradually becoming new choices for Chinese outbound tourists. This change in demand directly promotes the rise of new travel modes, such as free travel, customized travel, and small-group travel, which are gradually replacing traditional group tours and becoming the first choice of more and more tourists. The trend of changes in the outbound tourism market provides a huge development opportunity for OTA platforms.
Supply chain reconstruction, OTA platform advantages highlighted
With the rapid recovery of the outbound tourism market and the change of user demand, the whole industry's supply chain is undergoing a profound restructuring. In this process, OTA platforms are redefining the market with their technical advantages and flexible operation models. For example, Trip.com's brand recognition, overseas supply chain and high-quality customer service have a recovery speed of cross-border business in 2023 far higher than the industry average. At the same time, other OTA platforms such as Tuniu are also actively laying out, accelerating the development of overseas business through acquisition and self-built. OTA platforms not only can better adapt to the new supply chain needs, but also can provide more personalized and diversified outbound tourism products and services. With the gradual recovery of cross-border capacity, the improvement of passport holding rate and the optimization of visa-free convenience policies, OTA platforms are expected to occupy a more important position in the future outbound tourism market, and become the main engine of industry growth.
Overall, the Chinese outbound tourism market is standing at a new historical starting point. With the restructuring of the supply chain and the change of user demand, this market holds huge structural growth opportunities. OTA platforms, with their technical advantages and potential, are expected to emerge in this rapidly changing market and lead the Chinese outbound tourism market to a new peak. For investors, paying attention to the layout and development of OTA platforms in the outbound tourism market may be an important way to grasp future investment opportunities.
Key words: outbound tourism