The China policy connected with the COVID-19 pandemic makes severe travel limitations and lowers the profits of travel companies. In March – April 2022, the country imposed a strict lockdown again, especially in Beijing and Shanghai. Such a policy makes travel companies uneasy; however, while the forecast is negative in the short term, the long-term perspective is much brighter. People tend to perceive travel locations as safer than before and will probably travel after the quarantine restrictions end.
One of the outcomes is that the large Tier 1 cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, recovered much slower after the pandemic than other smaller cities, such as Chengdu and Xian. Airports in Beijing in 2021 had less than 50% of the 2019 traffic, compared with the 82% in the Chengdu airport. Tier 2 Chinese cities have become popular destinations for international travel, and quarantine restrictions are still their biggest obstacle. Ticket booking patterns also changed: surprisingly, more customers tend to buy premium tickets in the first half of 2022 compared with 2021.
In addition, the perception of the abroad location as safe increased compared with the survey half a year ago. For example, while almost 70% of Chinese survey respondents still see the United States as an unsafe travel destination, it is a fewer number than almost 90% six months before. This means that the Chinese are open to travel and ready to go somewhere after removing the COVID-19 restrictions.
Reference
ForwardKeys. (2022). China’s tourism takes on a new direction this spring. Hospitality Trends. Web.