Ctrip: 2016 “One Belt, One Road” Annual Report - Outbound

Recently, Ctrip.com, a leading online travel service company in China, released the 2016 Annual Report on Outbound Travel along the Belt and Road (Outbound) (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") on this issue. The report shows that in 2016, Ctrip sent more than 10 million passengers to countries and regions outside the Belt and Road, a year-on-year increase of 72.5%.

Judging from the comprehensive index provided in the report, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are the top three popular overseas destinations of the "Belt and Road". Data shows that in 2016, Ctrip sent a total of about 2.5 million passengers to Thailand, an increase of 91% over 2015; about 720,000 passengers to Singapore, an increase of 47% over 2015; and about 630,000 passengers to Malaysia, an increase of 129% over 2015.

At the same time, the report also provides a detailed interpretation of the travel habits of passengers traveling to overseas countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" in 2016 from four dimensions: air passenger transport, hotel accommodation, travel and vacation, and destination car use.

The number of passengers flying from Shanghai to Male has increased by more than 10 times

According to the data shown in the report, in 2016, Chinese tourists traveling to overseas countries and regions along the Belt and Road mainly used airplanes as a means of transportation, accounting for more than 95%.

In terms of destinations, the top ten destination cities are Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Manila, Moscow, Paris, Dubai and Ho Chi Minh City. Compared with the data in 2015, Chiang Mai and Manila rose by 3 places each.

In terms of growth rate, the number of passengers flying to Tawau, Malaysia, increased the fastest, up 392% compared to 2015; followed by Nha Trang, Vietnam, and Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, which increased by 367% and 322% respectively. In addition, the number of passengers flying to Ban Lun, Thailand, Hai Phong, Vietnam, Naypyidaw, Myanmar, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Hat Yai, Thailand, Langkawi, Malaysia, and Muscat, Oman all increased by more than 2 times.

In terms of routes, the most popular route is from Shanghai to Singapore, followed by Hong Kong-Bangkok, Shanghai-Bangkok, Hong Kong-Singapore, and Guangzhou-Bangkok. In terms of growth rate, the route from Shanghai to Male has the fastest growth, with the number of passengers increasing by more than 10 times compared with 2015, followed by Chengdu-Paris and Changsha-Kuala Lumpur, with the number of passengers increasing by more than 8 times.

The number of tourists staying in Johor Bahru hotels has increased by more than 3 times

Due to favorable factors such as the growth of China's per capita GDP, more than 70% of Chinese tourists who stay in hotels in countries and regions outside the Belt and Road Initiative choose hotels with at least 3 stars or above, of which high-star (4-5 stars) hotels account for 48%.

In terms of destinations, Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Chiang Mai, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Pattaya, Kota Kinabalu, Koh Samui and Krabi ranked in the top ten. Among them, Singapore has the highest proportion of high-star (4-5 star) hotels, nearly 90%; while Bali and Koh Samui have high-star (4-5 star) hotels accounting for 88%.

In terms of growth rate, the number of tourists staying in hotels in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Nha Trang, Vietnam and Semporna, Malaysia increased very rapidly. In 2016, the number of people staying in Johor Bahru hotels increased by 304% compared with 2015, while Nha Trang and Semporna increased by 286% and 203% respectively; the growth rates of ten destinations including Mandalay, Myanmar, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Cairo, Egypt, Manila, Cebu, Siquijor, Philippines and Yangon, Myanmar all exceeded 100%.

Countries promote visa benefits to attract Chinese tourists

According to the statistics in the report, Ctrip currently has about 50,000 tourist routes in overseas countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, of which about 70% are in Europe. At the same time, many of these countries and regions have introduced favorable visa policies to attract Chinese tourists.

For example, many countries including Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Maldives and others have implemented visa-on-arrival policies for passengers holding Chinese passports; and countries such as Singapore and the United Arab Emirates have opened e-visa policies to Chinese passengers, greatly improving the convenience of visa applications for passengers.

Whether the visa policy is favorable or not also largely determines how likely Chinese tourists are to choose a country as their destination. From the perspective of destination cities, the top ten are Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Chiang Mai, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Sabah, Maldives, Pattaya, and Koh Samui, which are basically covered by countries with favorable visa policies.

It is worth mentioning that from the top ten destinations, we can see that Chinese tourists are very fond of island tours, which occupy half of the top ten. Ctrip travel experts believe that "this is one of the important manifestations of consumption upgrading. During the travel process, people's demands for enjoyment are getting higher and higher, and islands can meet their needs very well."

In terms of growth rate, Nha Trang, Vietnam ranked first with a 650% increase in the number of tourists, followed by Kota Kinabalu (Sabah), Malaysia and Halong City, Vietnam, which increased by 512% and 264% respectively compared with 2015. In addition, the report shows that the growth of tourists in Prague, Czech Republic, Langkawi, Malaysia, Pattaya, Thailand, Hanoi, Vietnam, Vladivostok, Russia, Kalibo, Philippines, and Tel Aviv, Israel all exceeded 100%.

The growth of overseas car passengers exceeded expectations

In the past two years, more and more passengers have gone on independent tours abroad, and the acceptance rate of overseas private cars and airport transfers has also increased significantly. The report pointed out that in 2016, the number of passengers served by Ctrip in the countries and regions outside the "Belt and Road" increased by more than 430% over the whole year of 2015, far exceeding expectations.

It is worth noting that Nha Trang, Vietnam, as one of the emerging popular destinations among Chinese tourists, has seen its number of passengers using private cars and airport transfer services increase by nearly 400 times compared to 2015, while the growth rates of traditional destinations such as Bali, Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu are all more than 10 times. In addition, the growth rates of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Penang, Malaysia, Singapore, Da Nang, Vietnam, Krabi, Thailand, Bangkok and Samui are all more than 4 times, ranking third to tenth.

In terms of the total number of passengers served, Phuket, Bangkok, Singapore, Chiang Mai, Kuala Lumpur, Bali, Koh Samui, Paris, Krabi and Nha Trang ranked in the top ten.

Ctrip experts believe that Chinese tourists' desire to travel to countries and regions outside the Belt and Road Initiative is increasing year by year, and the more than 10 million trips and the expenses incurred by dining, shopping, and entertainment in the local area will definitely benefit these countries and regions. "The trend of promoting the growth of local tourism income and driving economic development has emerged."

At the same time, in order to better meet the travel needs of domestic tourists, domestic OTA companies represented by Ctrip will also accelerate the updating and iteration of tourism products for overseas countries and regions along the “Belt and Road” to keep this market vibrant and growing.