Trip.com Group has signed a three-year MoU with the China International Culture Association (CICA) to promote inbound tourism through the latter’s Nihao! China campaign, which plays up cultural exchanges and seeks to establish friendships between China and overseas visitors.
Both will jointly produce global promotional videos and digital communications supporting Nihao! China, and establish a framework that looks into building a service platform for inbound travel and activities at the China International Tourism Fair, the Sino-French Tourism Year, the China-US Tourism High-Level Dialogue, and the World Conference on Tourism Development, among other events.
The group will further contribute to China’s inbound tourism objectives with curated content to showcase specific offerings and services, and by collaborating with Chinese cultural centres, tourism boards, and other organisations.
Over the next three years, Trip.com Group plans to invest in platform technology, marketing and promotion, and product integration to accelerate the development of inbound tourism in China.
Trip.com Group data shows that China’s top 10 source markets, excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, are South Korea, the US, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, Thailand, the UK, and Germany.
January to October 2023 saw a four-digit growth in visitor numbers when compared with the same period in 2022, reaching more than 60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. China-related bookings made via the group’s platforms have surged since the reopening of China’s borders earlier this year. In October 2023, there was a 98 per cent year-on-year surge in inbound flight bookings, while September and August saw an increase of 58 per cent and 89 per cent, respectively.
Overseas visitors are most drawn to Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Zhuhai, Hangzhou, Foshan, Xiamen, Zhongshan, and Chengdu. In fact, seven out of 10 hotel bookings made by inbound tourists are for Shenzhen.
Trip.com Group expects inbound demand to rise in the near future, fuelled by government and the industry facilitation.
