① Today, China and Malaysia announced the extension of mutual visa exemption policy; ② Utour group mentioned that there has been an increase in the number of relevant product tours and a significant improvement in product diversity under the visa-free policy, with Spring Airlines Malaysia's related products performing better than the same period last year; ③ It is expected that the international market for civil aviation during the summer of this year will recover to about 80% of the same period in 2019.
The continuous release of visa-free policies will play a promoting role in the recovery of inbound and outbound tourism market. Third-party platforms predict that the international aviation market will recover to about 80% of the same period in 2019 this summer. In terms of product structure, the operating income of products worth 10-30 billion yuan is 401/1288/60 million yuan, respectively.
Today, China announced that it has agreed to extend its visa-free policy for Malaysian citizens until 2025. In return, Malaysia will extend its visa-free policy for Chinese citizens until the end of 2026. Earlier this month, China also announced unilateral visa-free policies for New Zealand and Australia.
According to data from Qunar, after the extension of the China-Malaysia visa-free policy was announced, the search index for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, increased by 49% compared to last week. Looking at the number of flight ticket bookings, this year's summer Malaysia flight ticket bookings increased by 2.2 times year-on-year.Visa-free policies for outbound travel, such as this China-Malaysia visa-free policy, have significantly increased the number of group tours offered by travel agencies and greatly enriched their products. For example, Thailand, which was previously visa-free, now offers 12 products, up from 5. Based on this, tourists have more choices, and the booking process is more flexible and shorter. Summer products in the direction of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are still very popular among travelers.
In terms of visa-free policies for outbound travel, such as the extension of visa-free policies between China and Malaysia, Li Mengran, media and public relations manager of Utour Group (002707.SZ), told Cailian Press that the visa-free policy has significantly increased the number of tour groups offered by travel agencies and greatly enriched their products. For example, Thailand, which was previously visa-free, now offers 12 products, up from 5. Based on this, tourists have more choices, and the booking process is more flexible and shorter. Summer products in the direction of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are still very popular among travelers.
"As for subsequent effects, apart from the travel demand for tourism, visa-free policies in the future will also further promote the travel of business and official delegations," said Li Mengran.
Zhou Weihong, Deputy General Manager of Spring Tour, also said that during this summer, the popularity of Spring Tour's free travel to Malaysia and its connected products to Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore continues to grow, with performance exceeding the same period last year. Meanwhile, visa-free policies for inbound tourism will also play a promoting role in inbound tourism market, enabling more overseas tourists from more source countries to come to China in a more convenient way.
Under the impact of visa-free policies, airlines have opened new routes and flight loads have remained high. Cheng Xi, the general manager of the Business Department of Juneyao Airlines (603885.SH), told Cailian Press that the civil aviation market is still in a recovery period. The recovery this summer will be relatively fast, and as the volume of the company's international flights gradually recovers, demand will increase significantly compared to last year.
Cheng Xi revealed that since the launch of the Shanghai-Penang flight by Juneyao Airlines at the end of May this year, the passenger load factor has remained stable at over 80%, and it is expected that the passenger load factor will further increase during the summer. In addition, the company plans to open two direct intercontinental flights from Shanghai to Manchester and Brussels in July this year. The reason for opening the Belgium direct flight route is that Belgium has a visa-free policy for entering China. From the current sales situation, the first flights on the two new routes will be close to full capacity.
According to data from VariFlight, as of June 19, the number of air tickets booked on inbound and outbound routes during the summer peak period in 2024 (July 1-August 31) exceeded 5.4 million, an increase of about 100% compared to the same period last year. In terms of ticket prices, data from Flight-Help shows that the average price of international air tickets (economy class) during the summer is 3,158 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 29.94%. The most popular international and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan destinations are Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and London.