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China's online tourism boom shows in new CNY travel trends

Update:01 Feb 2010
China's online tourism market is booming as an increasingly wealthy middle class travels for pleasure and the use of credit cards and the Internet soars, analysts say.
 
As millions of people pack their bags for Lunar New Year holidays, the busiest travel period of the year, many will have booked their trips home online, according to Chinese Internet research and consulting firm iResearch.
 
Revenue from online flight, hotel and package tour bookings will hit 4.75 billion yuan ($978.2 million) in 2010, up 27 per cent from last year, iResearch says, with that figure due to balloon to 9.01 billion yuan by 2013.
 
"People's lifestyle attitudes have changed and their spending ability has improved and people now view holidays as part of a healthy lifestyle," the firm said in its latest report on the fast-growing sector.
 
China's travel industry generated 1.3 trillion yuan in revenue in 2009, up nine per cent from 2008, state media reported earlier this month, citing figures from the National Tourism Administration.
 
While a separate figure on overall bookings revenue was not available, China Market Research Group senior analyst Ben Cavender estimated online bookings accounted for 8-10 per cent of the market.
 
Mr Cavender expects online bookings to make up 15-16 per cent of the total within two years.
 
China has at least 384 million Internet users and the number of credit cards issued has ballooned.
 
Mr Cavender said that young professionals between the ages of 24 and 35 living in Beijing and Shanghai were driving demand for flights, hotel rooms and package tours.
 
"They are by far the most optimistic consumer segment ... they are also the ones most comfortable with alternative forms of payment like credit cards," he said. 
 
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