China Tourism Academy: National Tourist Satisfaction Survey 2012-2022

The tourist satisfaction research team of the China Tourism Academy has deeply understood and implemented the idea of ​​"putting people first" and has continuously carried out systematic monitoring and special evaluation for 60 major tourist cities in China for nearly 15 years and 58 quarters in total, evaluating the quality of tourism development in representative cities from the perspective of the public and tourists. The results show that in the past decade, in the new stage of tourism development where the national tourism rights are increasingly prominent, the allocation of destination tourism resources is continuously optimized, and the tourism market is more open and free, the national comprehensive tourist satisfaction index has significantly improved in the fluctuating development, and the people's sense of happiness and gain in tourism has been continuously improved, and a number of charming cities with tourist satisfaction ratings that are firmly at the forefront of the country have been born.

1. Deeply understand and implement the idea of ​​"putting people first" and monitor the high-quality development of urban tourism based on the tourist satisfaction index

"The people's yearning for a better life is our goal." On November 15, 2012, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly declared when the Standing Committee of the 18th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau met with Chinese and foreign journalists. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, my country's cultural and tourism development has been stable and prosperous. It is the best era for the development of China's tourism industry and the decade in which the people's right to travel has been continuously demonstrated. In 2013, the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China" took "tourism rights" as the legislative purpose and orientation, and legally established that "tourism is a basic right of people and a lasting way of life." In 2014, the State Council issued Document No. 31 "Several Opinions on Promoting the Reform and Development of the Tourism Industry", proposing to make citizens feel comfortable and assured in tourism, discover beauty, enjoy beauty, and spread beauty. In 2016, the State Council included the tourism development plan in the "13th Five-Year Plan" national key special plan for the first time, and issued the "13th Five-Year Plan for National Tourism Development". In 2022, the State Council issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Tourism Development", focusing on promoting the integration of culture and tourism and innovative development of tourism. The report of the 20th CPC National Congress further pointed out that high-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. It can be said that after decades of development, national tourism awareness has become increasingly apparent, tourism consumption has been increasing, and people's tourism rights have been widely realized. The tourist satisfaction index is not only a touchstone for the high-quality development of tourism service quality in recent years, but also a strong confidence for the tourism industry to accelerate its bottoming out under the normal epidemic prevention and control situation.

2. Taking people's satisfaction as the greatest pursuit and adhering to scientific evaluation from the perspective of ordinary people

Tourist satisfaction is an effective measure of the degree to which tourist needs are met. It is one of the effective indicators for measuring and evaluating the quality of economic operation and can monitor the quality perception of tourist services in the three major markets. In order to implement the "Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Tourism Industry" (Guofa [2009] No. 41) issued by the State Council, the China Tourism Academy, with the support of the former National Tourism Administration and the National Social Science Fund, has established a national satisfaction survey system with three dimensions since 2009, including on-site questionnaires, online comments, and complaint quality supervision, after repeated experiments, systematic organization and technical preparation. It won the Government Management Innovation Award issued by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

The China Tourism Academy's construction of a multi-level and multi-method comprehensive index system for tourist satisfaction is a pioneering work. It applies a variety of research methods such as blog research, traditional satisfaction index structure model, and interview method to the comprehensive research of tourist satisfaction stakeholders, which more objectively reflects the market situation and analyzes industry contradictions more deeply. It has made breakthroughs in the traditional tourist satisfaction research in terms of basic ideas and theories. The main reference theories in the research process are: (1) Commercial Service Industry Satisfaction Index Evaluation Specification (SB/T10409-2007), Customer Satisfaction Evaluation General Principles (GB/T19039-2009), Customer Satisfaction Evaluation Model and Method Guide (GB/T19038-2009); (2) American Industry Satisfaction Index ASCI and its model; (3) Blog research method (network evaluation).

Figure 2 National Tourist Comprehensive Satisfaction Index from 2012Q4 to 2022Q3 (40 quarters)

Data source: Special survey on tourist satisfaction conducted by China Tourism Academy

4. From 2012 to 2022, the boundaries of travel services are disintegrating, and the broad travel service industry is optimizing supply through innovation

As the demand for self-help, free and personalized travel becomes more and more common, tourists have a deeper understanding of the comprehensive business environment such as local lifestyle, fashion life, cultural performances, landmark buildings, etc. There is huge potential for the creation of contemporary cultural content and the cultivation of cultural life for residents. The innovative and high-quality supply of diversified accommodation, new cuisine, creative entertainment and other products is accelerating. According to the national tourist satisfaction survey data, from 2012 to 2021, the satisfaction index of urban transportation, catering, accommodation, shopping, entertainment and scenic spots continued to increase. From 2012 to 2015, the various sub-indicators were in the "general satisfaction" range, from 2015 to 2018, the various sub-indicators rose to the "basic satisfaction" range, and from 2019, the various sub-indicators approached the "satisfied" range. In 2021, all sub-indicators reached the satisfaction level. Since 2022, tourists' satisfaction with transportation, catering and other aspects has exceeded that of scenic spots for the first time.

Figure 3 Willingness to choose cultural venues in local life and foreign travel in 2022

Data source: Special survey on tourist behavior by China Tourism Academy

Figure 4: Some sub-indexes of domestic tourists’ satisfaction from 2012 to 2022

Data source: Special survey on tourist satisfaction conducted by China Tourism Academy

The COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated the pace of innovation and iterative upgrading of the travel service industry. Group travel has been innovative in route innovation, content customization, and lean service, with remarkable results. New creative urban routes such as China Travel Service's "East of the Forbidden City, Like Old Times at First Sight" and Spring and Autumn "Micro Tourism" continue to emerge, significantly improving tourists' experience and sense of gain. Travel service providers rely on hardware configurations and service upgrades such as hotels, cars, shopping, and service personnel to ensure that tourists travel with peace of mind, and rely on high-end customization such as private small group organization, customized travel design, and refined specialization to meet the diverse needs of tourists. Satisfaction survey data shows that in 2021, the possibility of group tourists revisiting in the future, the possibility of choosing a travel agency again, and the possibility of recommending relatives and friends to travel increased by 9.4%, 0.3%, and 1.1% year-on-year.