On 29 May, the “International Mountain Tourism Day 2023” theme events titled “Enjoy the Wonder of Mountains, Share the Beauty of Life, Revitalize the Tourism Industry” kicked off in Vientiane, Laos. The events were jointly organized by Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Lao PDR (MICT), International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA), Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF), and supported by World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), ASEAN-China Center (ACC), China NGO Network for International Exchanges (CNIE), Guizhou Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Foreign Affairs Office. Over 250 guests from international organizations, IMTA members, and tourism institutions, culture and tourism enterprises, experts and scholars, and global media workers from Laos and other countries, gathered together to discuss the supply, market development, and solutions of mountain tourism facing the new consumer demands, explore the system of mountain tourism cooperation and governance within the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) framework, and jointly facilitate the full recovery, opening and interaction of the tourism market. Guests, from various perspectives, offered constructive and forward-looking insights on the new-stage innovation and regional development of mountain tourism. The events has aroused widespread concern in the international tourism industry.
On the "Enjoy the Wonder of Mountains, Share the Beautify of Life, Revitalize the Tourism Industry" Theme Forum, Song Liguo, General Manager of Strategic Cooperation Department, Trip.com Group delivered a speech on "Empower Mountain Tourism for A Wonderful Journey Together".
It is a great honor to be gathered here in Vientiane, Laos, to witness the opening of the "International Mountain Tourism Day" theme events. On behalf of Trip.com Group, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations and extend sincere thanks to all the leaders, guests, media, and friends from all walks of life who have long supported the development of Trip.com.
2023 is a year of breakthrough for the tourism industry. With countries around the world easing travel restrictions, the global tourism market has entered a stage of steady recovery. According to the global data and the recently released UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, world tourism has recovered to 80% of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of this year. Our data also reveals that world tourism is even stronger than expected, with the industry reinvigorating itself.
Looking at the data on China, after three years of decline, the tourism market in 2023 experiences a strong rebound.
Ministry of Culture and Tourism data on the May Day holiday shows that the demand of domestic tourism keeps climbing up. In detail, the number of domestic tourists in China reached 274 million, surpassing pre-pandemic levels to the 119% of 2019. Our data on ticket sales for domestic scenic spots increased by 9 times compared to 2022, more than doubling the figures from the May Day holiday in 2019. Meanwhile, the supply side is also recovering in an orderly manner. In addition, our FlightAi market insights show, this year's May Day holiday witnessed over 80,000 domestic flights, an average daily increase of around 15% compared to 2019. On April 28th, the day before the holiday, all high-speed train tickets departing from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station were sold out. On May 1st, the Yangtze River Delta saw a record-breaking single-day passenger volume of 3.711 million people traveling by rail.
Inbound and outbound tourism of China have also seen rapid growth. In particular, during January and February this year, outbound flight tickets and hotel bookings increased by 200% and 140% respectively than the last year. The long-dormant inbound tourism market has also seen the dawn of recovery. Our data reveals that from January to March this year, overall inbound tourism bookings increased by 46% compared to the previous year, with inbound flight tickets showing a remarkable growth of 168% and hotel bookings increasing by 27%.
On Trip.com, we have hundreds of travel tags that clearly classify tourism products of destinations. We have accessed data from nearly 10,000 major mountain tourism scenic areas and found that, amidst the overall improvement of the market, there is a significant surge in the popularity of mountain tourism. From January to May of 2023, mountain tourism product bookings increased by over 60% than 2019, trading volume of mountain tourism products by 53.2%, and the orders for mountainous scenic areas by approximately 279%.
Source: IMTA
During January to May this year, our data on orders for mountain tourism shows that the post-80s generation remains the main customer group, accounting for over 34% of the total, followed by the post-90s generation and then the younger post-2000 generation that shows the most significant growth. In terms of gender, male tourists show a greater preference for mountain tourism, accounting for over 65%.
We also compared the orders and user information on mountain tourism products, including vacation and leisure, outdoor sport, ecological sightseeing, and cultural exploration. Among them, cultural-exploration products showed the fastest growth – exceeding 66% with a clear trend of being younger, as the proportion of post-2000 generation travelers climbed from less than 5% in 2019 to over 28%. Vacation and leisure tourists are the most demanding for premium hotels, with a growth rate of over 55% in room nights. Outdoor-sport products such as skiing, mountain climbing, and paragliding come with diversified types, with an over 200% growth in route bookings. Meanwhile, traditional ecological sightseeing mountain tourism destinations like Huangshan in Anhui and Huangguoshu Waterfall in Guizhou are progressing in an all-round way. Generally speaking, people come to mountain tourism destinations, not for merely sightseeing anymore, but for interest-based trips, and more are willing to pay for destination content and value-based experiences.
From three aspects: new scenarios, new concepts and new driving forces, we effectively empower the development of mountain tourism. First, through rural revitalization, we tap into the key scenarios of mountain tourism, and expand the inventory space for rural tourism. Second, with LESS, our sustainable tourism program, we promote new concepts like natural conservation and ecological protection. Last, through the Tourism Revitalization Plan A, we carry out brand marketing for destinations, optimize the structure of cultural and tourism industry, and empower the sustainable development of mountain tourism.
Trip.com Group Country Retreats (Jiangxi Province)
Source: Trip.com Group
Mountainous areas boast unique ecological environments and diverse cultural landscapes which constitute beautiful villages with ecological agriculture, residence, culture and leisure. Now, with more business patterns, villages in mountains enjoy a larger space for production and for new ways of revitalization.
To implement China’s national rural revitalization strategy, since 2019, Trip.com Group has investigated many cities and counties across the country. Later, in March of 2021, we officially launched the "Rural Tourism Revitalization" strategy. Our plan was to create 10 benchmark products of high-end rural accommodation, empower 100 tourism villages, and train 10,000 talents and experts within five years.
Up to now, we have branched out to 23 farmhouses in 11 provinces across China. In terms of improving the quality of surrounding B&B, we took the lead in upgrading facilities and the environment, resulting in a maximum increase of 30% in price and more orders. In terms of benefiting the people, we brought an annual increase of over 7,000 yuan per capita in income for local employees.
High-end rural B&B is transforming from complementary products to core attraction of rural tourism, driving the development of the mountain tourism ecosystem and the integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in mountainous rural areas.
In the future, high-end rural B&B represented by our farmhouse resorts will continue to explore their own value, reach for the goal of rural revitalization, and become a key driver of rural revitalization in mountainous areas.
Trip.com Group Country Retreats (Guizhou Province)
Source: Trip.com Group
In March 2023, Trip.com Group, in collaboration with McKinsey & Company and Accor Group, released The Path toward Eco-friendly Travel in China. The white paper highlights the rapid development of sustainable travel in China and the future opportunity for the country to take the lead worldwide.
Prior to this, Trip.com Group, as a socially responsible corporation, had been practicing the concepts of low-carbon and environmental protection, leading the industry trends, and advocating the idea of sustainable travel. In July of 2022, we launched the "LESS · Sustainable Travel Program," pledging to gradually achieve comprehensive sustainable operation and launch at least 10,000 low-carbon tourism products with our global ecological partners. These products cover nearly all our services – hotel, air ticket, car rental, business travel, and vacation. Within one year, the products covered millions of global tourists.
The eco-tourism micro-documentary "Walking Green", jointly created by Trip.com Group, NIO and National Geographic, explores sustainable travel and lifestyle with local environmental and tourism experts. It showcases the beauty of urban and rural areas in China.
Walking Green
Recently, together with outstanding ecological partners, we have explored national parks in China, to help promote the critical role the national parks play in ecological landscapes and biodiversity conservation. Additionally, we advocate for a travel lifestyle that prioritizes natural conservation and try to create more pioneer destinations of ecotourism.
At the end of last year, we officially launched the "2023 Travel Revitalization Plan A" and announced a "triple strategy" to reunite the industry, destinations, and travelers.
First, by working with thousands of local guides, we aim to create 1,000 destination "reunion" experiences and "reshape brand value." We focus on a "people-to-people" strategy, leverage our high-quality supply chain resources, and, with the help from experienced tourism experts, rapidly develop a series of "reunion" products that cater to the needs of travelers, covering cultural, thematic, and immersive experiences.
Second, we promote trillion-yuan tourism consumption project and "restore consumer confidence" through year-round marketing. Based on our advantages in domestic and international marketing, we form a global matrix through influential platforms like Ctrip, Trip.com, Skyscanner, MakeMyTrip, Tripadvisor, Google, and Facebook. In addition, we employ various brand marketing strategies, including private traffic platforms, global advertising, and social media, for brand image, exposure and international presence of destinations.
Third, we establish ten culture & tourism incubation centers to "reconstruct the industry ecosystem." Via IMTA, we integrate and empower destinations, improve the underlying ecosystem of the supply chain, and restore self-regeneration capability. What’s more, by promoting cultural and tourism development and talent cultivation, we help destinations master ecological operations, thereby progressing in tourism quality and revenue.
The triple strategy helps the tourism sector to revitalize and cultural and tourism economic to peak.
Mountains are full of wonders and unique experiences for travelers to explore. And the development of mountain tourism allows for vast space of imagination and practice. In the future, Trip.com Group will continue to leverage its edges, bridge mountain destinations and tourists around the world, work with tourism experts to make mountain tourism diversified and high-quality, making it more popular among tourists.
