Tuniu Travel Consumption Report: The number of outbound travel users in the first half of the year has more than tripled year-on-year

According to the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP, on July 24th, Tuniu Travel Network released the "Tuniu 2024 First Half Year Tourism Consumption Report". Since the beginning of this year, the expansion of China's visa-free "circle of friends" has continued, and the visa-free policy has greatly simplified the entry procedures for foreign tourists, reducing the threshold for tourism and attracting more and more foreign tourists to China. In addition, the implementation of the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy and the improvement of entry convenience have significantly boosted the development of the inbound tourism market. The report shows that the number of outbound trips in the first half of the year has more than tripled compared to last year, with nearly 75% of tourists choosing short-haul outbound trips. With the increasing number of open destinations, the popularity of long-haul outbound trips has significantly increased, with the number of trips growing more than four times compared to the same period last year.

Rapid release of travel demand from third- and fourth-tier city users, significant trend of youth-oriented tourism consumption

The report shows that in the first half of this year, first-tier and new first-tier city users are still the main force in tourism consumption. Residents of cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Tianjin, and Wuhan are among the top sources of tourists in the "2024 First Half Year Popular Source Destinations" list.

Third- and fourth-tier city users have seen a rapid release of travel demand, with a significant increase in the number of trips compared to the same period in 2023. Cities such as Kaifeng, Deyang, and Ma'anshan have seen a more than twofold increase in the number of trips, while cities like Dongying, Haikou, Huangshi, Heze, Yibin, Lu'an, and Zhoushan have seen a growth rate of over 100% in the number of trips.

Young users have become a driving force in tourism consumption. In the first half of the year, users aged 26-35 accounted for 34% of the total number of trips. Emerging tourism trends such as performance-style tourism, City Walk, national trend tourism, cultural and museum tourism are highly favored, indicating a significant trend of youth-oriented tourism consumption. In addition, the parent-child travel market has seen a significant growth in the first half of this year, with a more than 1.5-fold increase in the number of trips by users under 18.

Rise of "sinking tourism", "traveling with TV dramas" becomes a new consumption trend

In the first half of this year, the proportion of trips lasting 3-4 days or 5-6 days reached 27% and 22% respectively, while the number of trips choosing 10 days or more increased by more than three times compared to the same period last year. With the accelerated release of tourism consumption demand, tourists are increasingly inclined to travel to more distant destinations.

In terms of popular domestic tourist destinations, traditional popular cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Sanya, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, and Suzhou maintain strong attractiveness to tourists, ranking high in the "2024 First Half Year Domestic Popular Destinations" list The popularity of third- and fourth-tier cities and county-level tourist destinations is on the rise, with "sinking tourism" becoming increasingly favored by more and more tourists. Data from the report shows that in the first half of this year, the number of trips to third- and fourth-tier cities and county-level destinations such as Dali, Nyingchi, Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Mudanjiang, Qingyuan, Huangshan, Deqin, Shangrao, Jiujiang, and Leshan has significantly increased. Among them, the number of trips to Dali has more than tripled compared to the same period last year, and the number of trips to destinations such as Nyingchi, Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Mudanjiang, Qingyuan, and Huangshan has also more than doubled.

The driving force of film and television works on the tourism market is increasingly evident, becoming the flow password for the rapid growth of tourism consumption. In the first half of this year, several film and television works not only sparked waves of viewership online, but also attracted many fans to visit the filming locations, experiencing the footsteps of the characters in the dramas. For example, "Blossoms" depicted the bustling old dreams, attracting numerous tourists to experience the atmosphere of fireworks on Huanghe Road in Shanghai and the elegant charm of the Peace Hotel; "Phoenix Walk" and "My Altai" have brought fame to Jinyun Xiandu in Lishui and Altai in Xinjiang, awakening people's infinite yearning for spiritual habitats and vast and magnificent natural landscapes; driven by ancient drama series such as "Joy of Life 2", visiting ancient buildings and historical sites has become a new trend for young people's travels.

In addition, whether it is Harbin, which debuted in the "C position" during the ice and snow season, Tianshui, which gained popularity due to its spicy skewers, or the cultural tourism feast staged in various historical and cultural cities, it reveals that the demand for tourism consumption is rapidly advancing towards diversification and personalization. A captivating TV series, a touching piece of copy, a photo capturing a beautiful moment, or a short video sharing travel experiences could all ignite the spark of cultural and tourism consumption, leading tourists to explore and experience that unique emotional resonance and cultural collision.

Expansion of Visa-Free "Circle of Friends", Surge in Inbound and Outbound Tourism

Since the beginning of this year, China's visa-free "circle of friends" has continued to expand, greatly simplifying the entry procedures for foreign tourists and lowering the threshold for tourism, attracting more and more foreign tourists to visit China. In addition, the implementation of the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy and the improvement of entry convenience have significantly boosted the development of the inbound tourism market.

Regarding outbound tourism, favorable visa policies for Chinese citizens have continued to facilitate outbound travel for everyone. So far, more than 20 countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and the United Arab Emirates, have opened reciprocal visa-free arrangements with China. In addition, more than 20 countries and regions unilaterally allow Chinese citizens to enter visa-free, including popular outbound destinations such as Uzbekistan, Iran, Morocco, and Zambia.

The report shows that in the first half of this year, the number of outbound tourists increased more than threefold compared to the previous year, with nearly 75% of tourists choosing short-haul outbound trips. With the increasing number of open destinations, the popularity of long-haul outbound trips has significantly increased, with the number of trips growing more than four times compared to the same period last year Apart from Hong Kong and Macau, among the popular outbound travel destinations, Thailand, Japan, Maldives, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, UAE, New Zealand, South Korea, Egypt, etc. are among the top choices. Particularly, the "visa-free golden triangle tour" of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand has seen a significant increase in travel popularity. Additionally, routes like France-Switzerland-Italy, UK-Ireland, Spain-Portugal, etc. have also maintained high popularity.

In terms of consumer trends, outbound short-haul travelers tend to choose personalized and flexible product combinations such as independent travel, semi-independent travel, destination group tours, private tours, and small group tours for 2-8 people. Examples include "8-person pure play group: Phuket round-trip tickets + 6-day local tour", "Kansai tour 8-person small group: Japan Osaka-Kyoto-Nara 5-day tour", "Thailand Bangkok-Pattaya tickets + 6-day local tour", "8-person pure play: Bali round-trip tickets + 6-day local tour", and other "influencer routes" favored by Tuniu users. For long-haul outbound travel, group tours remain dominant in the market, while tourists prefer high-quality, in-depth experiences, unique cultures, and tourism products that visit multiple destinations in one go.

Summer parent-child trips and summer vacation travel are booming, Tuniu's "Member Day" GMV exceeds 73 million in July

Since the summer, there has been a significant increase in demand for parent-child trips and summer vacation travel, with tourism consumption heating up rapidly. Tuniu's "Member Day" GMV exceeded 73 million in July, with holiday product GMV nearly 60 million, a year-on-year increase of 64.1% and a month-on-month increase of 46.3%.

This summer, the domestic tourism market has been steadily rising, with destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing being popular among parent-child groups, and summer vacation products in Northwest, Northeast, including Guizhou, seeing high booking rates. Tourists' outbound travel demand has also seen a concentrated release during the summer, with visa-free trips to Southeast Asia, island tours, and long-haul trips to Europe being popular choices among Tuniu users.