Roaming around the world: 2015 Outbound Wi-Fi Big Data Report

On February 1, Global Roaming, the largest outbound Wi-Fi operator in China, released the "2015 Outbound Wi-Fi Big Data Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). The data analysis of the "Report" is based on the big data of millions of Wi-Fi users owned by Global Roaming. The users' travel destinations cover more than 100 countries and regions on five continents around the world. It is the largest and most authoritative survey and analysis report in the outbound Wi-Fi industry.

The report pointed out that the outbound Wi-Fi penetration rate reached 11% in 2015, which was about 10 times higher than that in 2014. In 2016, the outbound Wi-Fi penetration rate may reach 30%. In terms of Wi-Fi order volume, Japan beat South Korea to top the list. Europe performed well overall and became the biggest dark horse in terms of destinations in 2015. In addition, influenced by factors such as TV programs, the parent-child travel and family travel market was hot in 2015. Chengdu tourists have the highest frequency of outbound travel, and Guangzhou tourists have super strong overseas purchasing power.

Whether you can surf the Internet happily when you go abroad is decided by women

Schematic diagram of the male-female ratio of outbound Wi-Fi

With the further popularization of mobile life, Wi-Fi has become a rigid demand for outbound tourists. Data shows that in 2015, independent travelers accounted for more than 70% of China's outbound tourists. Among the millions of outbound Wi-Fi rentals made by Global Roaming in 2015, more than 60% of the bookers were female users, accounting for 65% of the total number. Women are increasingly playing a leading role in the travel process.

Age trend of outbound Wi-Fi users

In terms of age distribution, influenced by factors such as spending power and travel habits, nearly 70% of outbound Wi-Fi users are between 20 and 35 years old. This group of people born in the 1980s and 1990s have become the main force of outbound Wi-Fi users. At the same time, Global Roaming's outbound Wi-Fi big data also shows that due to the popularization of mobile network life, the demand for the Internet among people over 40 years old is increasing. It can be predicted that in 2016, people born in the 1970s will also become the main users of outbound Wi-Fi.

The outbound Wi-Fi industry has entered the post-price era

Outbound Wi-Fi price trend line chart

According to the data from Global Roaming, the price of outbound Wi-Fi has dropped several times since 2013. Take Japan Wi-Fi as an example. In 2013, the price of a Japan Wi-Fi was basically 55 yuan/day. In the first half of 2014, the price of a Japan Wi-Fi dropped to 40 yuan/day. After the National Day in 2014, the rental price was "cut in half", and a Japan Wi-Fi only cost 15-20 yuan per day. In the first half of 2015, the price of Wi-Fi was further reduced and began to fluctuate between 12-15 yuan. After the National Day holiday, with the arrival of the off-season, the price of Japanese equipment dropped to about 10 yuan. Compared with the entire travel expenses, the amount spent on renting Wi-Fi is negligible.

Factors affecting Wi-Fi subscription

Wi-Fi has become a must-have item for outbound travel. There are many types of outbound Wi-Fi on the market, but what factors will become the key considerations for users to order Wi-Fi? Through investigation, Global Roaming found that before ordering Wi-Fi products, 37% of users first consider the tariff, 28% of users first consider whether the machine is convenient to pick up and return, 15% of the people are more concerned about whether the Internet speed is smooth, 12% of users are more concerned about the traffic quota, and another 5% of the group pays attention to the standby time of the machine.

Global Roaming Outbound Wi-Fi has achieved the best balance in terms of the issues that users care about. The rental price is affordable, with an average price of 25 yuan per day. At the same time, Global Roaming has 5 international branches, 23 domestic branches, and 62 domestic business outlets around the world, which can save users from express delivery and facilitate users to pick up/return devices on site, providing users with the most convenient service experience. The average Internet speed has currently reached the highest 4G bandwidth in the industry, especially in Japan and South Korea, where the Internet speed is maintained at a high-speed level of 4.5G.

Outbound Wi-Fi order source ratio

In terms of booking method selection, Global Roaming's big data shows that 68% of users choose to handle rental business on Global Roaming's official website, APP, Tmall store and offline counters across the country; 22% of users choose to rent outbound Wi-Fi through major OTA platforms; and the remaining 10% of users will handle it collectively through travel agencies.

From the data, we can see that more and more Wi-Fi users are starting to place orders online in advance, and Global Roaming's self-operated channels have become the first choice for users due to their more flexible ordering methods and more diverse marketing activities. Compared with the same period last year, the proportion of travel agency channels has continued to decrease. This trend indicates that the number of outbound individual tourists has increased, and the conventional travel experience of sightseeing can no longer meet the needs of outbound tourists. In-depth travel and private customized free travel outbound models are on the rise.

As the market scale matures, the profit space of the Wi-Fi industry is running out, the price war has come to an end, and more users begin to pay attention to the power behind each brand in addition to price. The future market will be an era of competition in scale and service. Global Roaming's pick-up and return counters at major airports across the country and 7×24 hours of uninterrupted professional customer service support provide such a differentiated and unique exclusive service, providing outbound customers with the most timely, efficient and considerate network experience, further establishing Global Roaming's industry-leading position.

Traffic usage distribution of outbound Wi-Fi users

In terms of Wi-Fi usage, the report shows that tourists used an average of 463.54MB of data, a 40% increase from the same period in 2014, and it is expected that the average per capita data usage will exceed 700MB in 2016. Among them, 87% was used to browse social media, 60% to check destination guides, 40% to compare shopping prices, 34% to use cars, find routes, and check ticket information, 25% to check hotel information, 34% to check attractions and daily life information, and 10% to work, online games and other items.

Since most outbound tourists know little about the destination environment and are keen on sharing new things, they will invest more energy in searching for guides and sharing on social media; as for hotels and air tickets, most tourists will choose to prepare in advance at home. The consumption habits of destination product purchases and localized services have changed greatly. Chinese tourists have changed from booking destination service items before the trip to trying to place orders and experience them immediately during the trip in 2015, thoroughly implementing the attitude of free travel whenever they want.

Chengdu people love to go out, Guangzhou people spend the most, Hangzhou people love to buy health products

According to the data released by the National Tourism Administration recently, in 2015, the number of Chinese outbound tourists reached 120 million, and the number of outbound tourists and the purchasing power of my country have ranked first in the world for three consecutive years. In this regard, Global Travel analyzed eight representative cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and drew conclusions from the big data analysis on the frequency of outbound tourists, consumption budget, shopping categories, etc.

Frequency of outbound tourists from different regions

The data shows that 41.06% of tourists go abroad once every six months, 36.86% of tourists go abroad once a year, 12.51% of tourists go abroad 2-3 times a month, and 9.57% of tourists go abroad once a month. Among them, Chengdu has the highest frequency of tourists going abroad, with the proportion of once a month and 2-3 times a month being about twice that of other cities, showing its "slow leisure city" lifestyle label.

The proportion of overseas consumption budget (food, drink and entertainment) of tourists from various regions

In terms of travel budget, Chinese outbound tourists are very concerned about the experience of eating, drinking and having fun. Tourists generally budget 5,000-10,000 yuan for eating, drinking and having fun, and more than 30% of tourists control the budget to 10,000-20,000 yuan. Among them, Guangzhou tourists have the strongest spending power, with a total of nearly 60% of them spending between 10,000-20,000 yuan and above 20,000 yuan, which fully reflects the consumption attitude of Guangdong people who dare to spend what they earn.

In this survey, Global Roaming also found that users who use outbound Wi-Fi, in addition to being keen on eating, drinking and having fun abroad, also have a strong interest in luxury goods and 3C electronic products.

The proportion of overseas shopping categories by tourists from different regions

Among the many shopping options, outbound tourists like to buy cosmetics the most, accounting for 29.99%; luxury goods and 3C products are tied for second on the overseas shopping list, each accounting for 16%; food, health products, and medicines account for 14.51%; clothing, shoes and hats account for 13.19%; and another 10.32% are maternal and child products.

From a regional perspective, Beijing tourists love to buy cosmetics the most; Shenzhen tourists love to buy maternal and child products the most; Guangzhou tourists love to buy digital appliances the most; Hangzhou tourists love to buy food and health products the most; Chengdu tourists love to buy clothing, shoes and hats the most; Tianjin tourists are hidden rich and love to buy luxury goods the most.

The parent-child travel and family travel markets are booming, and personalized tourism projects are highlighted

Percentage of outbound tourists by travel direction

From the perspective of travel types, influenced by domestic variety reality shows, more and more consumers' overseas travel routes have shifted to follow the shows. Influenced by a series of parent-child travel programs such as "Where Are We Going, Dad?", the parent-child travel market driven by parents born in the 1980s is becoming more and more popular. Global Roaming's outbound Wi-Fi big data shows that 43.75% of travelers choose leisure projects with parent-child travel and family travel as the theme. Similarly, influenced by the broadcast of a series of programs such as "Running Man", "Go Fighting", and "Going on an Adventure with Bear Grylls", travel routes with sports and adventure themes shined in 2015, winning the favor of more than 30% of consumers.

It is worth mentioning that high-end luxury travel has begun to enter the field of vision of tourists. According to the big data of Global Travel, more than 15% of tourists have tried high-end projects such as luxury yachts and private jets. Chinese travelers are beginning to get tired of the stereotyped model and are exploring more personalized tourism projects.

Destination selection: Although Europe suffered terrorist attacks at the end of the year, it still became the biggest dark horse in 2015

Schematic diagram of the top 10 outbound destinations

Looking at the tourism industry in 2015, the competition for outbound travel destinations was fierce. According to the Wi-Fi rental data of Global Roaming, Japan took the lead in 2015 and successfully ranked first in the list of outbound Wi-Fi users' travel destinations. South Korea, the big winner in 2014, was hit hard by the impact of MERS in the first half of the year and was forced to give up the crown. However, because South Korea itself has rich tourism resources and the local tourism bureau has made efforts to revive the tourism industry, the popularity of South Korea's tourism has not been affected too much, and it has successfully secured the second place in 2015.

In Hong Kong, which was also affected by the unexpected events this year, the tourism market was hit hard and fell from the second place in 2014 to behind the top three. The neighboring region Macau took advantage of the situation and rose several places, although it did not make it into the top ten.

Thailand is a typical example in Southeast Asia. After the political situation stabilized in the previous year, the tourism market flourished. Due to factors such as convenient travel, relatively low costs and small cultural differences, Southeast Asia remains the main choice for outbound users.

Although the European outbound market encountered an unexpected incident at the end of 2015, it still performed well throughout the year and entered the top five most popular regions for Wi-Fi users. As European countries gradually relax visa policies for Chinese tourists, a visa environment that matches China's "outbound power" has gradually taken shape, making it no longer out of reach to experience the charm of European cities. With the role of "tourism diplomacy" highlighted, it is expected that the European travel market will have a new look in 2016.

In addition, Taiwan, the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Maldives all performed well. In addition, due to favorable factors such as increased air transport capacity and richer tourism products, the number of tourists to some niche destinations has increased rapidly, such as Saipan, Fiji, Tahiti, Egypt, etc.

Outbound Wi-Fi market penetration rate may reach 30% in 2016

Schematic diagram of the top 5 tourist source rankings

The 2015 Outbound Wi-Fi Big Data Report shows that the top five outbound Wi-Fi source cities in 2015 are: Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, and Shenzhen, which are basically the same as the previous year. Based on the economic and social development levels of cities, the source cities are still concentrated in the eastern region and major urban agglomerations, and the spatial flow is mainly to the second and third-tier cities in the central region. The market structure is still in the early stages of the Wi-Fi industry, with the characteristics of gradually developing from trial to maturity.

Outbound Wi-Fi Penetration Rate Forecast

According to the Global Roaming Outbound Wi-Fi Big Data Report, about 1.5 out of every 100 outbound travelers used Wi-Fi products in 2014. With the booming development of "Internet + Tourism" in 2015, the Wi-Fi market penetration rate jumped from 1%-2% in 2014 to about 10%. With the increase in user popularity, Global Roaming believes that by 2016, the outbound Wi-Fi market penetration rate will reach 30%.

Changes in the number of days of outbound Wi-Fi rentals

In terms of rental days, in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, Wi-Fi usage days are concentrated between 4 and 7 days, and in popular islands such as Seychelles and Maldives, it is concentrated between 5 and 8 days. The travel duration has increased by 20% year-on-year. In Europe, the United States, and Australia, Wi-Fi usage days average 10 to 17 days. Due to the relatively long travel distance, tourists in Europe and the United States tend to choose in-depth tours.

All this is due to the "Several Opinions on Further Promoting Tourism Investment and Consumption" further announced in 2015, which requires localities and units with conditions to let employees combine Friday afternoon with the weekend to form a 2.5-day vacation model. With the popularization of the concept of combining holidays, adjusting holidays, and staggered travel, as well as favorable vacation policies such as the paid vacation system and the 2.5-day vacation model, the travel holidays of Chinese outbound tourists will continue to grow.

Tourism has developed into a popular lifestyle, and the arrival of an era of innovation and entrepreneurship in the tourism service industry indicates that 2016 will be the first year of the explosion of outbound Wi-Fi.