On May 3rd, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released travel data for the holiday period, showing that domestic tourists reached 274 million and the domestic tourism revenue hit 148.06 billion yuan (US$21.41 billion), both surpassing the same period in 2019.

Online travel platforms, including Ctrip, Tongcheng, Tuniu, and Fliggy, also reported record-breaking data for the Labor Day holiday.

Scenic spots saw a 9-fold increase in ticket sales compared to last year.

According to Ctrip’s “2023 Labor Day Travel Data Report,” the top five popular scenic spots were Shanghai Disneyland Resort, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Huangshan Scenic Area, Mount Emei, and Mount Hua.

Family tourists, particularly those with children, contributed significantly to the surge in visitors, with theme parks, zoos, and museums accounting for more than half of the top ten popular spots.

The preference of tourists diversified during this year’s Labor Day holiday, with a more robust demand for high-level cultural products. Museums such as the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China, Shaanxi History Museum, and others saw their ticket sales fully booked for several consecutive days. Immersive performances, river cruises, and intangible cultural heritage shows were also in high demand.

Cross-provincial travel accounted for more than 70% of hotel bookings, with the average distance traveled by tourists increasing by 25% compared to last year. This year’s holiday saw a trend towards longer trips, with group tours lasting five days or more making up 30% of bookings, up from 20% in 2019.

Besides traditional popular destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, smaller destinations like Zibo also witnessed a surge in popularity.

Driven by the phenomenal popularity of “Zibo Barbecue,” hotel bookings in Shandong Province increased nearly threefold compared to the same period in 2019, with Zibo’s hotel bookings increasing more than tenfold.

Experts predict that while the domestic tourism market will stabilize after the Labor Day holiday, the summer peak season will see another surge in student and family travel. However, as some tourists opt for outbound travel during the summer, the domestic tourism heat is expected to be less intense compared to this Labor Day holiday.

To maintain the positive momentum in tourism consumption, local authorities must continue to innovate their offerings, implement more precise branding and marketing strategies, and continuously upgrade their service levels to promote the role of tourism consumption in economic growth.

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Domestic tourism revenue during this period reached 375.843 billion yuan (US$73.29 billion), up 30% year on year, and recovered to 73.1% in the same period of 2019.
During the CNY festival, 10,739 A-level tourist attractions were opened normally, accounting for 73.5% of the total number of A-level tourist attractions in China. About 110,000 mass cultural activities were held nationwide, with about 473 million participants.

The 243 national-level night culture and tourism consumption clusters have 52.122 million visitors, with an average of 30,600 passengers per night in each cluster.

The number of tourists received by Sichuan province ranked first, reaching 53.8759 million, and the tourism revenue reached 24.216 billion yuan, up 24.73% and 10.43%, respectively, year on year, recovering to 89.73% and 84.75% of the CNY 2019. Compared with the total tourism revenue, Yunnan contributed 38.435 billion yuan of tourism revenue in seven days.

According to Qunar data, each traveler traveled 400 kilometers more than last year, and the outbound air ticket was 6.7 times more than that in 2022.

As of January 26, during CNY in 2023, the number of air tickets booked in popular cities had exceeded that before the epidemic (the CNY in 2019).

In 2023, the average price paid for air tickets during CNY was 845 yuan, the same as before the epidemic.

According to Qunar CEO Chen Gang, there will be more opportunities in overseas markets in 2023. During CNY, outbound air tickets increased by 6.7 times over the same period in 2022. The top 5 destinations are Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the United States, and Indonesia. With the increase in flight supply, it is expected that the number of international air tickets and international hotel reservations will continue to grow.

Duty-free consumption in Hainan continued to be popular. According to Haikou Customs statistics, from January 21 to 27, Haikou Customs supervised 1.56 billion yuan in sales of duty-free shopping, an increase of 5.88% over the CNY holiday in 2022;

The number of duty-free shoppers was 157,000, an increase of 9.51% YoY; per capita consumption is 9,959 yuan.

According to Ctrip data, this year’s Spring Festival, cross-border ticket bookings increased more than four times year-on-year. Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Chiang Mai, Manila, and Bali have become the most popular international travel destinations for Chinese tourists.

Mao Ning, a spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, responded that during the Spring Festival this year, the number of people leaving the country exceeded 2.87 million, with an average of 410,000 per day, an increase of 120.5% over the same period last year. The overall order for outbound travel of Chinese tourists increased by 640% year on year, and the order for air tickets increased by more than four times.

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Trip.com’s international business maintained rapid recovery, with the overall air-ticket bookings on global platforms increasing over 100% year over year.

Its total net revenue increased by 29% year over year and increased by 72% quarter over quarter to RMB6.9 billion (US$969 million), mainly driven by the robust recovery in China’s domestic market and overseas markets.

• Accommodation reservation revenue was RMB2.9 billion (US$408 million), representing a 32% increase YoY or 114% increase QoQ
• Transportation ticketing revenue was RMB2.6 billion (US$369 million), representing a 44% YoY or 49% QoQ
• Packaged-tour revenue was relatively stable at RMB387 million (US$54 million) compared to the same period in 2021. Packaged-tour revenue increased by 217% from the previous quarter
• Corporate travel revenue was RMB370 million (US$52 million), representing a 9% YoY or 76% increase QoQ

Net income for the third quarter of 2022 was RMB245 million (US$34 million), which improved from a net loss of RMB868 million for the same period in 2021 and a net income of RMB43 million for the previous quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter of 2022 was RMB1.4 billion (US$198 million), representing a 164% increase from RMB537 million for the same period in 2021 and a 300% increase from RMB355 million for the previous quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA margin was 21% for the third quarter, compared with 10% for the same period in 2021 and 9% for the previous quarter.

As of 12:00 on 8 December, the travel search popularity for 2023 last week had increased by more than 900% compared with the same period last year. Within two hours after the release of the New Year’s holiday schedule on 8 December, the search volume of Trip.com’s air tickets and hotel products increased by 6 times and 7 times respectively from the same period the previous day.

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China’s leading OTA Ctrip officially changed its corporate name to “Trip.com Group Limited” on October 25, 2019, and its ticker to “TCOM” on November 5, 2019. Trip.com Group operates a family of travel brands, which mainly consists of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar.

Income from Trip.com operations increased by 52% year-over-year to RMB2.2 billion (US$314 million). Excluding share-based compensation charges, non-GAAP income from operations increased by 40% year-over-year to RMB2.6 billion (US$369 million) in Q3 2019.

The operating margin was 21% for Q3 2019, compared to 16% in Q3 2018, and 15% in the previous quarter. Excluding share-based compensation charges, non-GAAP operating margin reached 25%, the highest margin over the past 6 years.

Trip.com Group’s international businesses (excluding Greater China destinations) sustained robust growth momentum.

• The year-over-year revenue growth rate of international hotel business (excluding Greater China destinations) reached 50% in Q3 2019.
• Trip.com brand’s international air ticketing volume maintained triple digit growth for the 12th consecutive quarter.

For the third quarter of 2019, Trip.com Group reported net revenue of RMB10.5 billion (US$1.5 billion), representing a 12% increase YoY. Net revenue for Q3 2019 increased by 21% from the previous quarter.

Accommodation reservation revenue for Q3 2019 was RMB4.1 billion (US$576 million), representing a 14% increase from the same period in 2018, primarily due to its brand’s extensive global reach, expansion in the global product portfolio, and provision of diversified accommodation choices to prospective customers. Accommodation reservation revenue for Q3 2019 increased by 21% QoQ, primarily due to seasonality.

Transportation ticketing revenue for Q3 2019 was RMB3.7 billion (US$521 million), representing a 3% YoY, primarily due to an increase in international air ticketing and ground transportation ticketing demands. Transportation ticketing revenue for Q3 2019 increased by 9% QoQ, primarily due to seasonality.

Packaged-tour revenue for Q3 2019 was RMB1.6 billion (US$229 million), representing a 19% increase YoY, primarily driven by a significant increase in traffic generated from offline stores and further penetration in lower-tier cities in China. Packaged-tour revenue for Q3 2019 increased by 56% QoQ, primarily due to seasonality.

Corporate travel revenue for Q3 2019 was RMB335 million (US$47 million), representing a 26% increase from the same period in 2018, primarily driven by expansion in corporate customer base and an optimized product mix trend. Corporate travel revenue for Q3 2019 increased by 9% from the previous quarter, primarily due to seasonality.

Trip.com gross margin was 79% for Q3 2019 , which remained consistent with that for the same period in 2018 and the previous quarter.

Product development expenses for Q3 2019 increased by 12% to RMB2.8 billion (US$390 million) from the same period in 2018 and increased by 6% from the previous quarter, primarily due to an increase in expenses relating to product development personnel.

Product development expenses for Q3 2019 accounted for 27% of the net revenue for the same period. Excluding share-based compensation charges, non-GAAP product development expenses for Q3 2019 accounted for 25% of the net revenue for the same period, which increased from 24% in Q3 2018 and decreased from 28% in the previous quarter.

Sales and marketing expenses for Q3 2019 decreased by 8% to RMB2.5 billion (US$347 million) from the same period in 2018, primarily due to a decrease in expenses relating to sales and marketing activities. Sales and marketing expenses increased by 18% from the previous quarter, primarily due to an increase in expenses relating to sales and marketing activities.

Sales and marketing expenses for Q3 2019 accounted for 24% of the net revenue for the same period. Excluding share-based compensation charges, non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses for Q3 2019 accounted for 23% of the net revenue for the same period, which decreased from 29% in Q3 2018 and 24% in the previous quarter.

General and administrative expenses for Q3 2019 increased by 18% to RMB809 million (US$113 million) from the same period in 2018, primarily due to an increase in general and administrative personnel-related expenses. General and administrative expenses remained consistent with the previous quarter.

General and administrative expenses for Q3 2019 accounted for 8% of the net revenue for the same period. Excluding share-based compensation charges, non-GAAP general and administrative expenses accounted for 6% of the net revenue for the same period, which remained consistent with those for the same period in 2018 and decreased from 8% in the previous quarter.

Income from operations for Q3 2019 was RMB2.2 billion (US$314 million), compared to RMB1.5 billion in Q3 2018 and RMB1.3 billion in the previous quarter. Income from operations increased by 52% year-over-year in Q3 2019.

Excluding share-based compensation charges, non-GAAP income from operations was RMB2.6 billion (US$369 million), compared to RMB1.9 billion in Q3 2018 and RMB1.7 billion in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP income from operations increased by 40% year-over-year in Q3 2019.

The operating margin was 21% for Q3 2019, compared to 16% in Q3 2018, and 15% in the previous quarter. Excluding share-based compensation charges, non-GAAP operating margin was 25%, compared to 20% in Q3 2018 and in the previous quarter.

Income tax expense for Q3 2019 was RMB365 million (US$51 million), compared to RMB257 million in the same period of 2018 and RMB336 million in the previous quarter. The change in its effective tax rate was primarily due to changes in the profitability of Trip.com subsidiaries that have different tax rates, including certain non-deductible expenses of the fair value changes in equity securities investments.

Net income attributable to Trip.com Group’s shareholders for Q3 2019 was RMB793 million (US$112 million), compared to net loss attributable to Trip.com Group’s shareholders of RMB1.1 billion in Q3 2018 and RMB403 million in the previous quarter.

Excluding share-based compensation charges and fair value changes of equity securities investments, non-GAAP net income attributable to Trip.com Group’s shareholders was RMB2.3 billion (US$317 million), compared to RMB1.7 billion in Q3 2018 and RMB1.3 billion in the previous quarter.

Diluted earnings per ADS were RMB1.35(US$0.19) for Q3 2019 . Excluding share-based compensation charges and fair value changes of equity securities investments, non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS were RMB3.70(US$0.52) for Q3 2019 .

As of September 30, 2019, the balance of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investment, held to maturity time deposit and financial products was RMB61.0 billion (US$8.5 billion).

For the fourth quarter of 2019, Trip.com expects the net revenue growth to continue at a year-over-year rate of approximately 8%-13%.

China outbound tourism insights 2019