SINGAPORE, Oct. 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At the 10th Annual Travel Trade Show ITB Asia, Ctrip.com International, Ltd. highlighted the importance of South East Asia and the potential of the region to become a hotspot for China's rapidly growing outbound travel market.
During the 2017 October Golden Week, 46% of the 6 million Chinese outbound travelers chose South East Asia as their holiday destination, a trend driven in part by more simplified visa application process for Chinese citizens. As more countries open up for Chinese travellers, passport ownership ratio remains relatively low in China. Although this is only at 7%, Ctrip expects this amount to rise in the near future.
According to Ctrip's data for flights and hotel bookings, the most popular destinations in South East Asia were Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, all of which have seen growth from our tracking since 2015. China's domestic market is also growing in line with travelers' spending power. First-tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing are seeing the average traveler spending well over 1400 USD per head.
Overall, China's outbound travelers are expected to reach the 200 million mark in 2020, up from 122 million in 2016.
To meet the needs of both domestic and outbound travelers, Ctrip's strengths in AI, big data and intelligent hardware are crucial advantages in providing a superior travel experience. Whether through VR technology that allows users to select their hotel rooms online, check-in via facial recognition technology, or features such as "Smart Home" and "Smart Keys", Ctrip customers enjoy an unprecedented level of customization and convenience throughout their travels.
Ctrip leverages the 50TB of data generated daily by our 300 million users to analyze and understand demographics, customer demands and travel behavior. As the first OTA to use machine learning to forecast travel trends, Ctrip's has the capacity to study the buying behaviour of our customers on both Ctrip and third-party platforms. Intelligent computing allows our customers to enjoy continual service improvements, personalized recommendations and an overall optimization of travel resources.
Ctrip's Chief Executive Officer Jane Sun said, "The development of advanced technology has always been one of Ctrip's core advantage in the travel industry. We will continue to harness technological innovation to provide the highest-quality travel related services to meet our customers' rapidly evolving needs."
About Ctrip.com International, Ltd.
Ctrip.com International, Ltd. is a leading travel service provider of accommodation reservation, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management in China. It is the largest online consolidator of accommodations and transportation tickets in China in terms of transaction volume. Ctrip enables business and leisure travelers to make informed and cost-effective bookings by aggregating comprehensive travel related information and offering its services through an advanced transaction and service platform consisting of its mobile apps, Internet websites and centralized, toll-free, 24-hour customer service center. Ctrip also helps customers book vacation packages and guided tours. In addition, through its corporate travel management services, Ctrip helps corporate clients effectively manage their travel requirements. Since its inception in 1999, Ctrip has experienced substantial growth and become one of the best-known travel brands in China.
SOURCE Ctrip.com International Ltd.