Destination of growth for outbound tourism

After a challenging period, travelers again head for foreign climes, Yang Feiyue reports.

Yu Huiqing has had a busy summer taking groups of Chinese students on trips to Europe. More than 200 middle school students from Beijing recently took one of her trips to Germany and Austria that concluded in early August.

During the two-week journey, they saw the Alps, took in the beauty of the Rhine River, the rustic charm of Hallstatt in Austria, and learned the history of castles like Heidelberg and Neuschwanstein in Germany.

"We also arranged for them to participate in a lively and engaging nature class in the Black Forest," says Yu, a cultural tour manager with the Beijing-based travel agency, Utour.

The tour was designed to take the children out of their usual learning environment and help them develop a deeper, more integrated understanding of the world through the music, painting, architecture, and history of the two countries, Yu adds.

When the itinerary was released in July, it was quickly booked up. Parents who want to broaden their children's view and improve their foreign language skills were among the forces driving the popularity of the tour, which was one of many outbound cultural trips offered by the travel agency this summer.

"We organized more than 20 group-learning trips during the summer, including those to the United States and the United Kingdom, and they were all well-received by the market," says Li Mengran, marketing manager with Utour.

The trips are part of China's rising outbound tourism market.

"Judging by the current bookings (as of early September) for National Holiday trips abroad, the number of travelers has increased by 55 percent year-on-year," Li says.

Visa-easing policies, the recovery of international flights and cheaper costs have driven a strong rebound in the summer international travel market.

Countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, which have introduced mutual visa exemptions with China, form a visa-free "golden route", making them the top choices for outbound travelers over the summer, according to industry players.

Bookings for the three countries increased by nearly 50 percent over the same period last year, while the average price has decreased by nearly 10 percent, according to a recent summer travel market report released by the Shanghai-based online travel agency, Trip.com Group.

According to the report, overall outbound bookings on its platform increased by over 40 percent year-on-year, with other countries such as South Korea, Australia, Vietnam and Indonesia also at the top of Chinese travelers' lists.