Travel restrictions have been lifted, Chinese people are gradually returning to normal life and they continue to plan to travel. Last weekend, manyPeople in China have begun to gatherat the Bund in Shanghai or Huangshan Mountain Park in eastern Anhui province for a short break.
Domestic tourism is ready to return
A survey by Trip.com - China's largest online travel company, conducted on 15,000 people in 100 cities in the country at the end of March, showed that 16% of respondents were willing to travel again in May on the occasion of Golden Week, a 5-day holiday. The vast majority of respondents preferred to travel domestically to destinations such as Yunnan, Hainan, and Shanghai. These are the top three favorite destinations for domestic tourists.
"China is recovering well. Wuhan has lifted the lockdown but at the same time, the whole world is still fighting against Covid-19. We see May as a good time for domestic tours because many countries still have their borders closed," said Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com.
Travel restrictions have been gradually lifted in China.
That’s good news for Chinese tourism but disappointing for global tourism, as the world continues to battle the virus, with many travel agents, hotels, shops and tour guides around the world counting on Chinese tourists, the biggest spenders and the most numerous. However, in the current unforeseen circumstances, the tourism industry worldwide can hardly expect anything less.
In 2018, 150 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad, spending more than $277 billion. "For many countries, Chinese tourists are the largest source of foreign visitors. Domestic tourism is the first step to revive the industry. We are optimistic about the future of tourism," Sun added.
Many holiday plans were ruined by the Covid-19 outbreak in the country in January, forcing many people to stay home. Therefore, traveling again after the epidemic will be the first thing Chinese people think of. According to Trip.com, 61% of Chinese travelers in a survey said they are ready to travel again in August.
Shopping attractions have opened in China but remain under careful surveillance
A smaller survey of 1,000 people across China by international consultancy Oliver Wyman also reinforced the same view, with 77% of respondents choosing domestic travel because “the situation abroad remains severe.”
The pandemic that has spread across Europe and the US, causing air travel to stagnate, is the reason why Chinese people cannot go out and stay in the country for tourism. Moreover, China has a total of 55 UNESCO-recognized world heritage sites and many natural wonders such as Zhangjiajie, the Li River in Guilin, the Tiger Gorge in Yunnan, the Great Wall... so domestic tourism still has a strong attraction for Chinese people.
Mr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, founder of the Overseas Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), said that more than 90% of all Chinese tourists traveled domestically before Covid-19.
Vietnam is one of the chosen destinations.
After domestic travel recovers, surveys show that it will only take a short time for Chinese people to start choosing overseas tours. When looking at post-pandemic overseas travel, COTRI predicts that Chinese people will choose nearby destinations in Asia such as Thailand, South Korea and Vietnam; while Europe, Australia and especially the US will take longer to welcome them back. About 14% of survey participants said they were interested in European tours, but their plans depend on countries' travel policies and travel restrictions.
"At COTRI, we are studying the 10% of Chinese tourists with passports to see how their travel behavior will change after the pandemic. Initially, they will travel domestically, then to neighboring regions. However, that depends on a few factors such as which destinations will allow Chinese tourists to enter and where they are considered safe," Mr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt emphasized.
"Overseas travel will be quickly welcomed by Chinese people as soon as the pandemic is controlled, borders open, and visas are provided again by countries," said the CEO of Trip.com.
In 2019, figures from the China Tourism Academy show, China had 6 billion domestic tourist visits, compared with 155 million overseas trips.
Chinese tourists in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa
