Following the mutual visa exemption with Singapore, the mutual visa exemption between China and Thailand has also officially landed. On January 28, according to CCTV news, China and Thailand signed a mutual visa exemption agreement, which will take effect from March 1, 2024. After the news was announced, the search volume related to many travel platforms increased significantly, and the search popularity of Thailand-related keywords increased by more than 7 times compared with the previous day. While boosting the recovery of outbound travel, the agreement also further benefits the inbound travel market, which is also supported by Ctrip's international versioncom Thailand site, the search popularity of China-related keywords increased by more than 4 times compared with the previous day. Recently, the three countries of "Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" have successively exempted Chinese tourists from visas, and "Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" will also become the most popular outbound travel destination during the Spring Festival.
The search popularity in Thailand increased by more than 7 times month-on-month
After the official implementation of the mutual visa exemption policy between China and Thailand, the search volume related to travel to Thailand on many travel platforms has surged.
Ctrip data shows that after the news was announced, the search popularity of related keywords in Thailand increased by more than 7 times compared with the previous day, of which air tickets and hotels increased by more than 6 times month-on-month. Residents of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Shandong and other provinces search for Thailand more. The most searched destinations in Thailand by Chinese tourists are Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and Pattaya.
With the 8-day Spring Festival holiday approaching, many consumers have already arranged their trips to Thailand. According to Ctrip data, up to now, during the Spring Festival, Chinese tourists' travel orders to Thailand have increased by more than 13 times year-on-year, among which consumers in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and other places have more travel orders to Thailand. Among them, parent-child families accounted for 44%, and the "post-80s" accounted for 47% and the "post-90s" accounted for 33% of the order users.
Previously, according to CCTV news, Thai Prime Minister Saita Thazin revealed to ** that Thailand's visa-free entry policy for Chinese tourists is valid until February 29, 2024 and is about to expire. After continuous communication and negotiation with the Chinese side, China and Thailand will implement a permanent visa-free entry policy from March 1, which means that no visa is required to travel between the two countries.
Customized products for inbound tourists
The implementation of the mutual visa exemption policy has not only accelerated the recovery of the inbound tourism market in Thailand, but also further benefited the recovery of China's inbound tourism market.
Qin Jing, vice president of Trip.com Group, said that after the signing of the permanent mutual visa exemption agreement between China and Thailand, it will greatly facilitate the people of China and Thailand, and the tourism resources of China and Thailand will complement each other, and China is also the closest ice and snow tourism destination to Thailand, and the permanent visa exemption will further promote Thai tourists to travel to China, and is expected to promote Thailand to become the top three source countries for Chinese inbound tourism in 2024.
The enthusiasm of Thai tourists to travel to China is also reflected in the data. In the international version of CtripOn the Thailand website, the search popularity of China-related keywords increased by more than 4 times compared with the previous day, and Shanghai, Chengdu, Harbin, Shenzhen, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Zhangjiajie and other cities are the most searched cities by Thai tourists.
In the face of the inbound tourism market, some travel agencies are also stepping up their layout. Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of Spring and Autumn Tourism, said that Thailand, as one of the important new source countries for inbound tourism in 2023, the number of people coming to China for business trips, conferences and incentive tours is also increasing. The Spring and Autumn Inbound Products Department also launched a number of customized tourism products and personalized services for the first time to help the further development of the inbound tourism market.
"New Malaysia-Thailand" orders increased by more than 15 times year-on-year
With Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand all visa-free for Chinese tourists, the "New Malaysia-Thailand" tourism route will usher in a new peak during the Spring Festival.
"New Malaysia and Thailand" is still the favorite of consumers for outbound travel. Ctrip data shows that up to now, the travel orders of Chinese tourists to the three countries of "Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" during the Spring Festival have increased by more than 15 times year-on-year, of which the travel orders to Singapore and Thailand have increased by more than 13 times year-on-year, and the travel orders to Malaysia have increased by more than 22 times year-on-year. In terms of inbound tourism, during the spring period, the travel orders of "Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" tourists to China increased by 9 times year-on-year, and Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand increased by more than 14 times, 11 times and 8 times respectively year-on-year.
Li Mengran, media and public relations manager of Zhongxin Tourism Group, said that for tourists, it is very good for tourists to be free of visas for Chinese tourists in all three countries, and tourists can freely choose their travel destinations. Judging from the Spring Festival booking data of Zhongxin Tourism, "New Malaysia and Thailand" is a tourist destination with a better booking situation in the first tour, and the overall booking volume of the Spring Festival is close to 90%, and the landing of mutual visa exemption between China and Thailand is expected to promote the sales growth of the tourism market during the Spring Festival and after the Spring Festival.
New Malaysia and Thailand, a popular outbound travel route for Chinese tourists, have achieved mutual visa-free travel with China, and the 'go-and-go' travel will greatly promote the prosperity of tourism in China and Southeast Asia." Qin Jing said. Zhou Weihong also said that with the recent release of a series of good news about visas, it is believed that the "new Malaysia-Thailand" tourism will be pushed to a new climax, and more tourists will travel to the three countries around the Spring Festival holiday.
According to Gu Huimin, a professor at the School of Tourism Science of Beijing Second University of Foreign Chinese, the adoption of the visa exemption policy is one of the best ways to promote the recovery of the inbound and outbound tourism market. All tourism enterprises should make corresponding preparations and lay a good foundation for the upcoming travel peak.
In fact, in the long run, the visa-free policy will have a sustainable and long-term boosting effect for tourist destinations, in addition to promoting the tourism industry, it will also play a good role in study tours, study abroad and large-scale business conferences. Li Mengran also said.