Europe is expected to welcome more Chinese travellers on the back of increased flight capacity from China, the latest figures from ForwardKeys showed.

A total of nine new routes and one resumed route will start in 1H2018, plus a further three are in the pipeline. At least four China-Europe routes are already planned for 2H2018.

ForwardKeys’ statistics show that by June there will be an extra 30 flights a week from China to Europe. Based on an estimation of 200 seats per flight, that means 6,000 more seats will be available for Europe-bound Chinese travellers. Excluding Russia, the average total number of seats available each week last summer was 150,000.

Europe, with a 10 per cent market share of the outbound Chinese market, saw a 7.4 per cent increase in Chinese travellers during the recent New Year holiday period in January and February this year, revealed ForwardKeys. Turkey – recovering after terrorist attacks – surged 108.2 per cent, and Greece by 55.7 per cent, compared to the same period last year.

Travel in the opposite direction is set to increase too. At present, flight bookings to China, in the coming six months, from the rest of the world, are 11.8 per cent ahead of where they were at this time last year. The stand-out origin region is the Americas, which is responsible for 25 per cent of travel to China. Bookings from there are currently 24 per cent ahead.

ForwardKeys CEO and co-founder, Olivier Jager, said: “It seems that the EU-China Tourism Year is having a positive impact on travel in both directions. The Chinese have been growing in confidence for international travel for some time now and that trend is being reciprocated. Europe clearly has a lot to gain from this increased capacity because the Chinese are ready to spend money on luxury goods while on holiday, providing good opportunities for European retailers.”

While outbound travel from Thailand is set to hit 10 million this year, some destinations are still lagging in marketing efforts and visa policies targeting the market, according to a report on The Next Big Thing in Asia-Pacific tourism by Imtiaz Muqbil, executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire.

The report shows that outbound travel from Thailand, including both Thai citizens and the thousands of middle-upper income expatriates, hit 8.2 million trips in 2016, almost double the 2011 figure.

The number is estimated to have crossed nine million in 2017 and is heading for 10 million in 2018, assuming that the global, regional and local geopolitical/economic situation remains stable.

Ease of access will become a major determinant of future destination choice. Japan, which eliminated visas for Thais in 2013, has become the fastest-growing destination for Thai travellers. The destination is followed by South Korea, Taiwan and Russia.

The report observes that these countries are stepping up marketing and promotional campaigns to narrow the significant gaps between the number of their tourists visiting Thailand and the number of Thais visiting their countries.

However, while most Thais know that they can get visa-free access to their neighbours in South-east Asia as as well as to North-east Asian destinations, they still do not realise they can get relatively easy access to several countries in Latin America and Africa, the report says. It hence urges countries on both distant continents to put more focus on marketing to Thai travellers.

The report also blasts the visa application processes for Europe, the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand as being “insulting, offensive and expensive.”

“Nearly 90 per cent of the documentation required is identical, with complicated variations in the rules and regulations. Technologically, it should be possible for some kind of a single-visa system to be worked out. Aside from being a money-spinning profit centre, it is not clear what security or immigration threats these visa-requiring countries are hoping to alleviate,” the report remarked.

“Some of the questions asked in the application forms are totally irrelevant. The requirement for proof of financial support is also questionable in an era when thousands of well-off Thais are well-armed with credit cards and far better off financially than citizens of the visa-requiring countries.”

South Asian countries are also urged to clean up their visa policies. “South Asia as a whole gets dragged down because only the Maldives gives visa-free access to Thais. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka all require visas. Although India and Sri Lanka have online visas, cumulatively, the cost and time factors involved in getting visas reduces the appeal of these countries vis a vis competing countries.”

The report further notes the big gap between the number of airlines flying to Thailand (118 as of the winter 2017/2018 airline schedule) and the number of foreign NTOs having full-time or marketing representative offices in Thailand (only 12). A handful of other countries have separate arrangements such as through appointed GSAs.

Meanwhile, the report highlights the enormous promise of road travel as the completion of the Asian Highway allows Thailand to take advantage of its unique geographical location at the heart of South-east Asia, with strong overland connectivity to Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.

Asia-Pacific looks set to be the biggest beneficiary from the greater numbers of Chinese travelling abroad during the Lunar New Year, according to ForwardKeys.

Daily international departures are ahead 11 per cent on a comparable period last year, and ForwardKeys expects South-east Asia will experience additional uplift with the Chinese avoiding South Korea.

ForwardKeys further shows that Chinese travellers are making an early start from the beginning of their winter break at the end of January with figures already significantly ahead. Current bookings show that travellers will begin to peak from February 10 to February 14, ahead of the Chinese New Year (February 16) and the following Golden Week holiday.

Globally, Asia-Pacific is the top destination region. It has a market share of 76 per cent, ahead 13 per cent. But other parts of the world – the Americas, Europe and Africa & the Middle East, are showing steady, healthy growth, as the Chinese become increasingly attracted to international travel.

Japan, Thailand and Taiwan hold their positions as the top three destination countries. New Zealand tops the list of the fastest-growing destinations, ahead 30 per cent on last year; followed by Vietnam, ahead 22.5 per cent; and Hong Kong, ahead 18.3 per cent.

The pattern for Chinese travellers heading home after the celebrations tracks last year’s movement – peaking on February 21 at the end of Golden Week.

Two airports in Japan see the greatest increase in returning numbers – Sapporo, ahead 40 per cent, and Osaka, up 39 per cent. They are followed by Phuket and Dubai, ahead 34 per cent.

Chicago tops the list of those airports benefiting from Chinese homeward bound transfers.

Research by global hotel cloud platform SiteMinder has unveiled that the top 15 booking channels that generated the highest revenue for Thailand hotels in 2017 spanned a wide distribution spectrum.

The lists are based on the 72 million hotel reservations that passed through SiteMinder’s channel management solution during the year to produce US$21.5 billion in gross revenue for the company’s 28,000 hotel customers around the world.

The presence of both B2B and B2C platforms among the top-performing booking channels reaffirms the value of having a diversified hotel distribution strategy, stated SiteMinder’s managing director Mike Ford.

“These lists are testament to the incredible, material impact that a broad distribution strategy, which caters to a diverse business mix from various feeder markets, can have on a hotel’s bottom line,” commented Ford.

“They also prove the enormous – and growing – value of direct and corporate bookings, with hotel websites and GDSs featuring in almost every list this year. Additionally, we see that hotels continue to look to the wholesaler sector as an important provider of guests, with a number of the world’s leading bed banks featuring in every list globally.”

Notably, Ctrip has climbed one spot this year, showing the growing appeal of Thailand to Chinese travellers, pointed out Glenn Andrews, managing director – Asia at SiteMinder.

Meanwhile, Rakuten made its debut appearance on the list, a reflection of the growing value of Japanese travellers to the Thai hotel market, he added.

Thailand’s top 15 booking channels collectively contributed 87 per cent of all revenue that passed through SiteMinder’s channel manager for hotels in the country in 2017, proving their effectiveness in attracting, reaching and converting today’s consumer.

The top 15 revenue-generating booking channels for hotels in Thailand were:
1. Booking.com
2. Expedia
3. Agoda
4. Hotel websites (direct bookings)
5. GTA
6. Hotelbeds
7. Ctrip
8. Fusion Holidays
9. Traveloka
10. HotelTravel
11. Rakuten
12. Hostelworld Group
13. Flight Centre Travel Group
14. Asia Travel
15. HRS – Hotel Reservation Service