Chinese spent about $56 billion at travel agencies

Chinese tourists continue to trust and use traditional travel companies more than online booking sites in 2017.

Plus the percentage of penetration of online travel agencies in China in search of a record level of Last year. According to a Chinese report on the outgoing market of the Chinese Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), 20 percent of the 120 million Chinese outbound travelers booked online travel in 2015. This is a seven percent increase from 2014 And the strongest indicator that the reservation sites continents to be more accepted throughout China.

Ctrip & Qunar

Chinese consumers felt less pressed by price wars at the end of last year Ctrip took a stake in Qunar and began working together, a powerful alliance among two of China's largest booking sites. This is probably a factor that more influences consumers on the booking sites, said COTRI.

Yet 80 percent of Chinese travelers booked offline and used one of more than 27,000 travel agents in chunks and mortars in China last year. The number of travel agencies in China has increased by 50 percent since 2006 and is showing some signs of slowing, and COTRI projects for Chinese outbound travelers will spend close to $ 80 billion to travel agents this year.

Chinese consumers spent about $ 56 billion on travel agencies in 2015. They also recorded a $ 11 billion trip to online travel agencies last year, a 70% 2014. While offline travel agents in China have closer relationships with consumers than their foreign counterparts with markets elsewhere, they also compete in addition to the growing popularity of Chinese booking sites like Ctrip and Qunar.

"In China, the line between retail agents and tour operators (also referred to as tourism wholesalers in other countries) is somewhat blurred. It is not uncommon for tourism wholesalers to create not only tourist packages , But also sell directly to customers through advertisements in newspapers, websites and even their own retail stores, "the report said.

source Mkgtochina

Chinese travel agencies can contact and work with incoming tour operators directly without wholesalers, "which can be attributed to the minds of unwanted intermediaries. In cases where a travel agency does not have enough customers for a trip Specific, for example, it will forward its customers to a larger wholesaler and earned the associated commission, "according to the report.

Many Chinese travel agencies operate illegally, including Wolfgang Arlt, director of COTRI, is one of the most gray areas of the Chinese tourism industry. About 10% Of these travel agents are licensed to operate outbound tourists on their own behalf, allowing them to sell different types of travel and the rest use a license or license from another company.

Online travel agencies in China

Online travel agencies in China face obstacles in addition to the offline travel agents do not worry. More than half of Chinese citizens (668 million people) do not use the Internet. The Communist Party of China also exercises a lot of control over the web, which brings most consumers to believe can trust a brick and mortar online travel agent online. And when traveling internationally for the first time - which describes much of the world's largest foreign market - Chinese consumers often prefer to speak with a travel agent in person, the report said. "In the Chinese travel media, the exposure and discussion of online travel agencies can be compared to those of Hollywood stars. Almost every day newsletters and reports from the News on the volatile relationships of Chinese online travel agencies (price wars and partnerships), weight gains and losses (stock sales and acquisitions) and highlights on red carpets (obtaining investment)