Market Trends of Online Travel Industry in China
This section covers the major market trends shaping the China Online Travel Market according to our research experts:
Increasing Internet Penetration in China is Helping in Market Expansion
According to the statistics, the number of internet users in China rose to 989 million as of December 2020, which was up by 85.4 million from March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic motivated customers to go online for the majority of purposes. The pandemic and the resultant closure of physical stores for a limited time drove customers to book their travel online, thus helping the market studied to grow further in the country. Though the market recorded the highest figures during December 2018, with 49.5% of customers utilizing the services, it also recorded fluctuations in the total transactions owing to the uncertainty clouded due to the US-China trade war and the internal situations. However, as of the end of 2020, the penetration rate of online travel booking figured at 34.6%, with 342.44 million internet users having used the services.
Tourism Sector Growth is Driving the Market
China's macro-economy is running smoothly, and the per capita disposable income is growing steadily. With the changes in people's consumption concepts and consumption structure, the demand for tourism also increased dramatically. According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in 2020, amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China saw approximately 2.88 billion domestic tourist trips, which is a 52.1% Y-o-Y slump. The status of the industry has continued to strengthen. With the rapid growth of tourism industry revenue and the continuous increase of online travel penetration, China's online travel industry market has also proliferated. The number of tourists traveling to and from major tourist destinations like Guangdong, Henan, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Beijing exceeded or almost reached the levels seen during the 2019 Spring Festival.
