The Canadian Tourism Commission (”CTC”) recently reported:
According to an eTN report, a recently released study by Shanghai-based iResearch Consulting concluded the internet has become a popular tool for Chinese travellers trying to make their travel arrangements.
“At least 2.75 million Chinese travellers booked hotel rooms, air tickets and other travel services on the internet,” according to the study, which found a 72% increase in users of the internet for this purpose (compared to the previous year). That number was expected to double to 5.7 million users in 2008.
“Currently the market is still small, less than 1%,” Dai Bin, professor at Beijing International Studies University, is quoted as saying in the report. “But, there is a huge potential to develop this market.”
Huge indeed, but still in its infancy, notes the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) managing director in China, Derek Galpin: “At the moment it is pretty much domestic and short haul mostly — bookings for destinations that people have been going to for some years, like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. But it is certainly growing, and as Chinese consumers become more accustomed to travelling, they will see the opportunities and advantages of not being with groups. They will feel confident enough to go to some of these places and start building their own tours. But it is certainly very small at the moment.”
A key factor, of course, is that Canada is still a non-ADS country. “Online booking sites like Ctrip.com cannot feature Canadian itineraries. But there are more bookings in general and there is no doubt it will become significant for Canada, in due course,” Galpin believes.
eTN reports that, despite the phenomenal growth in online travel bookings in China, the internet is still seen as a medium for travel information, while payment is completed offline in the traditional method. The online market is still controlled by only few companies.
The survey was based on data collected from approximately 60,000 internet users across China.
