As the year-end approaches, amid freezing weather, "tourist migration to the southeast" from southern China and Hainan to Southeast Asia and the South Pacific has entered the most intense phase of market competition. Major tourist destinations and travel agencies are pulling out all the stops, with bookings in subtropical and tropical regions remaining red-hot. Under this spectacular trend of "winter escape tourism" in China, this emerging global tourism giant, three golden rules have emerged: book early, travel off-peak, and "don’t chase bargains."
According to reports, information from the China Tourism Academy and major travel agencies shows that this year, due to decades-rare extreme cold weather across much of China, reverse-season travel has continued to heat up. Hainan International Tourism Island as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan tourism have remained at high levels, while Southeast Asia and South Pacific island tourism continue to surge. Both domestic and outbound travel have seen "double peaks."
Due to some travelers “combining leave” to create the "longest New Year’s holiday ever," domestic travel to warm coastal destinations such as Sanya and Xiamen has seen significant growth. Analysis by major travel agencies shows that the 2013 New Year’s travel market experienced "explosive" growth compared to 2012, with long-distance domestic travel increasing by over 80%. Routes such as Sanya, Xiamen, and Yunnan all saw particularly sharp rises. Data from Ctrip shows that Sanya became the hottest domestic travel destination for New Year’s, with free independent traveler (FIT) bookings rising over 80% year-on-year.
As the old year passes and spring approaches, the Spring Festival Golden Week has always been the peak period for family travel and reverse-season holidays. The Southern Hemisphere destinations such as Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa have consistently been among the top choices for Spring Festival travel. As in previous years, they have unsurprisingly become the earliest-selling-out Spring Festival routes in 2013. Southeast Asian island products, with their rich offerings and flexible itineraries, have become the new darlings of Spring Festival 2013 travel. Reporters learned from Ctrip that the island vacation trend led the Spring Festival travel boom in 2013. Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, and Southeast Asian islands became hotly pursued routes, with product sales exceptionally brisk, and most Southeast Asian routes for the Spring Festival period having been largely sold out.
Reporters recently learned from travel agencies that this year, most domestic travel routes have seen an average price increase of about 10%, with peak season increases ranging from 30% to 50% compared to the off-season. For example, a 4-day comfortable private tour from Shanghai covering Guilin + Li River foreign passenger ship + Yangshuo + Yanshan + Elephant Trunk Hill is priced at 3,200 yuan during the Spring Festival. A comfortable Kunming-Dali-Lijiang group tour in Yunnan is priced at over 3,000 yuan, making it one of the more cost-effective group products for the Spring Festival Golden Week. To attract tourists, many routes from travel agencies and websites offer advance booking discounts of several hundred yuan, typically requiring booking 20–30 days in advance.
In addition to early booking, traveling off-peak is also a very cost-effective option. After the New Year holiday, prices in popular destinations see a slight drop. Currently, prices for the most concentrated island vacation routes during the New Year holiday have decreased by about 10%, but as the Spring Festival approaches, outbound travel prices will surge in early February, making the period between the New Year and Spring Festival the best time for “off-peak travel.” Reporters found on the Caissa Travel website that current lowest prices for Taiwan tours are 4,499 yuan, but will rise to 6,899 yuan in February, peaking at 8,199 yuan; a 7-day Bangkok-Pattaya trip currently costs around 6,000 yuan, and will reach over 8,000 yuan in February.
Generally speaking, prices for major routes begin to rise in early February, with maximum increases reaching around 40%. During the peak of reverse-season travel, when market prices are generally high, travelers should be highly vigilant about products that seem “unusually cheap.” The National Tourism Administration recently issued the first 2013 tourism warning case, which involved a scam by the fictitious “China Shenzhen International Travel Group,” under the guise of a “Buy appliances and get a VIP coupon for a 3,980-yuan 4-day, 3-night Hong Kong-Macau twin tour” promotion.