China Online Travel Industry Report of 2007 Q4 from Baidu

Baidu Data Research Center (百度数据研究中心) released a Online Travel Report 2007 on April. 10, 2008. It provides some very interesting data about online travel industry in China. [Note: all data are for year 2007 if not specified; all Baidu data are collected from browser cookies in Q4 of 2007 Q4.]

1. Market Size

• Total Revenue of Travel Industry of China: 1,090 Billion RMB -> 155.7 Billion USD (data from China National Tourism Administration, 中国国家旅游局);
• Total Online Travel Booking: 2.25 Billion RMB -> 0.32 Billion USD, increased 65.4% from 2006 (data from a report by Data Center of China Internet 中国互联网调查);
• Estimated Online Travel Booking in 2008: 3.84 Biilion RMB ->0.55 Billion USD (中国互联网调查).

2. Travel Theme/Category

The categories are analyzed from the key terms. One interesting category for English speakers would be “红色旅游“ (ranked at #2 ) which literally means “Red Tourism”. People usually visit China Anti-Japan/ Liberation War (1920s-40s) and Chinese Communist Party development related historical places in a Red Tour.

3.Top 10 Most Searched Information Categories

I wasn’t surprised to that “Air Ticket” is the most WANTED key terms in travel related searches, but a little surprised to see only 3.57% terms are about “lodging/accommodation”. This is very different from the United States market where “hotels” is a hot term. A large percentage of people are searching for “itinerary” (旅游路线) which I will understand as “deciding where to go”.

4. Top 10 Travel Booking Sites

Top 3 players are: Ctrip, Elong and MangoCity.

5. Top 10 Travel Information Sites

I have personally used Go2EU (穷游网) and knew it was very hot, but I didn’t expect it to be Number 1. Go2EU’s Chinese name can be understood as “Travel though you are poor” or “How to travel even if you don’t have much $$$.” It is a portal and community for budget/independent outbound travelers. All the information (in Chinese) focuses on overseas travel: from how to get a visa, where to buy cheap ticket, to tips on when and where to take great pictures. I am a little surprised to see only Travel Channel of Sohu on # 10 but no other major portals.

6:Top 10 Domestic Travel Destinations for Shanghai Residents (most searched)

The top 10 destinations are: Hangzhou, Suzhou, Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Huangshan, Wuxi, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Chengdu. Except of Huangshan (黄山) which is a natural park, all others are cities. I haven’t been to 2 of them. :)

7. Top 10 Oversea Travel Destinations for Shanghai & Beijing Residents (most searched)

Shanghai: Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Bali, Sin-Ma-Thai, North Korea, France

Beijing: North Korea, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, France, Vietnam, The United States, Finland and Japan.

An interesting finding: North Korea is a in the “Top 10″ lists of both cities. Very funny! I can’t believe people are actually travel to North Korea, or maybe just it is just a MOST Interested country that people search for general purpose rather than travel. How do you think? I bet the United States will be in the list of 2008 for Shanghai residents.

There are some other interesting charts in this 44-page report, such as top 10 most searched hotel brands, airlines, travel agents, cities. It can be easily download here.

UPDATE from Elliott:

CNReviews.com Trivia Question: On Twitter, I tweeted the trivia question: “When asked if the French Revolution was successful, which Chinese statesman said “it is too early to tell?” JPostman of SocializedPR answered the question correctly–Zhou Enlai. The lucky winner gets a link to his blog at SocializedPR! Now I have to reread Alexis de Tocqueville’s Old Regime and the French Revolution to contrast it with Marx’s Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (also on Amazon)to even be able to understand what Zhou Enlai was thinking when he said this. Thanks JPostman!