According to Zhitong Finance, on July 24, Tuniu Travel Network released the "Tuniu 2024 H1 Tourism Consumption Report". Since this year, China's visa-free "circle of friends" has continued to expand, greatly simplifying the entry procedures for foreign tourists and reducing the threshold for tourism, attracting more and more foreign tourists to China. In addition, the implementation of the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy and the improvement of entry convenience have significantly promoted the development of inbound tourism market. The report shows that the number of outbound travelers in the first half of the year increased more than three times year-on-year, of which nearly 75% of tourists chose short-term outbound tours. With the increasing number of open destinations, the popularity of long-distance outbound tours has significantly increased, and the number of travelers has increased more than four times year-on-year.

The demand for travel among users in third- and fourth-tier cities is rapidly growing, and the trend of young tourism consumption is significant.

According to the report, in the first half of this year, users from first- and new-tier cities were still the main force of tourism consumption. Citizens of Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan and other cities ranked high on the list of popular source cities in the first half of 2024.

The demand for travel among users in third- and fourth-tier cities is rapidly growing, and the number of travelers has increased significantly compared to the same period in 2023. The number of travelers from Kaifeng, Deyang, Ma'anshan and other places increased by more than twice year-on-year, while the number of travelers from Dongying, Haikou, Huangshi, Heze, Yibin, Lu'an, Zhoushan and other places increased by more than 100% year-on-year.

Young users have become the main force of tourism consumption. In the first half of the year, travelers aged 26-35 accounted for 34% of the total number of travelers. New forms of tourism such as watching performances, City Walk, Guochao tours and cultural and museum tours are popular, and the trend of younger tourism consumption is significant. In addition, the parent-child tourism market has also seen significant growth in the first half of this year, with the number of travelers under the age of 18 increasing by more than 1.5 times year-on-year.

"Sinking tourism" is on the rise, and "traveling with TV series" has become a new consumption trend.

In the first half of this year, the proportion of travelers choosing 3-4 day or 5-6 day trips reached 27% and 22% respectively, and the number of travelers choosing trips of 10 days or more increased more than three times year-on-year. With the acceleration of tourism consumption demand, tourists are increasingly inclined to go to more distant destinations.

In terms of popular domestic tourism destinations, traditional popular cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Sanya, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Suzhou still maintain strong attraction to tourists and rank high on the list of popular domestic destinations in the first half of 2024.

Tourism destinations in third-, fourth-, and fifth-tier cities and counties are becoming increasingly popular, and "sinking tourism" is becoming more and more popular among tourists. According to the report, in the first half of this year, the number of travelers to tourism destinations in third-, fourth-, and fifth-tier cities and counties such as Dali, Linzhi, Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Mudan****yuan, Huangshan, Diqing, Shangrao, Jiujiang, and Leshan increased significantly. The number of travelers to destinations such as Dali increased by more than three times year-on-year, while the number of travelers to destinations such as Linzhi, Lingshui Li Autonomous County, Mudan****yuan, and Huangshan increased by more than twice year-on-year.

The driving force of film and television works on the tourism market is becoming increasingly prominent, and has become the flow password for rapid growth of tourism consumption. In the first half of this year, many film and television works not only sparked waves of online viewing, but also attracted many fans to visit the filming locations and experience the footprints of the characters in the dramas. For example, "Blooms and Beautiful Flowers" depicts the prosperity of the old Shanghai, attracting countless tourists to experience the fireworks of Huanghe Road in Shanghai and the elegant style of Peace Hotel; "Held in the Lonely Castle" and "My Aletai" have made Lishui Jinyun Xian and Altay, Xinjiang famous, arousing people's infinite longing for the unique emotional resonance and cultural collision. Under the influence of antique puppet dramas such as "Joy of Life 2", checking in at ancient buildings and historical sites has become a new trend among young people traveling.

In addition, whether it is Harbin that debuted in the ice and snow season, Tianshui that went viral due to spicy hotpot, or the cultural tourism feast staged in various historical and cultural cities, it reveals the trend of diversification and individualization of tourism consumption demands. A fascinating TV series, a touching copy, a photo that freezes a beautiful moment, or a short video that shares travel experiences may become the spark that ignites cultural and tourism consumption, leading tourists to explore and experience the unique emotional resonance and cultural collision.

China's visa-free "circle of friends" continues to expand, and inbound and outbound tourism is on the rise.

Since this year, China's visa-free "circle of friends" has continued to expand, greatly simplifying the entry procedures for foreign tourists and reducing the threshold for tourism, attracting more and more foreign tourists to China. In addition, the implementation of the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy and the improvement of entry convenience have significantly promoted the development of inbound tourism market.

In terms of outbound travel, there have been continuous bullish visa policies for Chinese citizens this year, greatly facilitating their outbound travel. So far, more than 20 countries including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and the United Arab Emirates have opened mutual visa exemption with China. In addition, the number of countries and regions unilaterally allowing Chinese citizens to enter without a visa has also reached more than 20, including Uzbekistan, Iran, Morocco, Zambia and other popular outbound travel destinations.

According to the report, the number of outbound travel users in the first half of this year increased more than three times year-on-year, with nearly 75% of tourists choosing short-term outbound trips. As the number of destinations increases, the popularity of long-term outbound travel has grown significantly, with the number of outbound travel people increasing more than four times year-on-year.

Apart from Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR of China, the popular outbound travel destinations are ranked as follows: Thailand, Japan, Maldives, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, South Korea, and Egypt. Especially for the "visa-free gold route" of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia, the popularity of outbound travel has increased significantly. In addition, routes such as the France-Switzerland-Italy line, the UK-Ireland line, and the Spain-Portugal line have also maintained high popularity.

From the perspective of consumer trends, short-term outbound travel users tend to choose personalized and flexible product combinations such as free travel, semi-free travel, destination group tours, private tours, and 2-8 person boutique small groups. Special lines such as "8-person pure play tour: round-trip flights from Phuket + 6-day local tour", "Kansai Tour 8-person small group: 5-day tour of Osaka-Kyoto-Nara, Japan", "Bangkok-Pattaya round-trip flights + 6-day local tour in Thailand", and "8-person pure play: Bali round-trip flights + 6-day local tour", which are favored by Tuniu users. As for long-term outbound travel, group tours are still the market leader, while tourists prefer high-quality, deep experience, cultural and multi-destination tourism products.

Summer parent-child and summer vacation tourism consumption is hot, Tuniu's "Member Day" GMV exceeded 73 million in July.

Since the summer, the demand for parent-child and summer vacation travel has increased significantly, and tourism consumption heat has rapidly increased. Tuniu's "Member Day" GMV exceeded 73 million in July, of which the GMV of holiday products was nearly 60 million, an increase of 64.1% year-on-year and 46.3% month-on-month.

This summer, China's domestic tourism market has been steadily growing, with Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and other destinations being favored by parent-child tourists. Summer escape tourism products in Northwest, Northeast, and Guizhou and other regions have been booming. The demand for outbound travel has also peaked in the summer, with visa-free travel to Southeast Asia, island tours, and long-term travel to Europe being popular choices among Tuniu users.