Thanks to the strong demand for summer tourism, the domestic tourism market rebounded strongly in the third quarter. Judging from the recent third quarter financial reports of listed tourism enterprises, profit has become the mainstream. At the same time, with the introduction of a series of good exit entry policies, the exit entry tourism market has great potential for recovery.
Profits of listed tourism enterprises became mainstream in the third quarter
In the third quarter, the performance of listed tourism enterprises increased significantly, and some tourism enterprises even achieved continuous growth in revenue and profit for three quarters.
According to Ctrip's financial report, the net profit attributable to the parent company was about 4.615 billion yuan, up 1634.96% year on year; Adjusted EBITDA (profit before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization) was about 4.622 billion yuan, up 225.72% year on year. The financial report of Tongcheng shows that the adjusted EBITDA is 870 million yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 88.2%; The adjusted net profit was 620 million yuan, up 146.5% year on year. According to Tuniu's financial report, the net income in the third quarter reached 178.2 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 128.9%; The net profit of non US accounting standards was 45.5 million yuan, and the net profit became positive on a year-on-year basis.
The performance of some top travel agencies is also rising. In the third quarter, Zhongxin Tourism realized an operating revenue of 1.261 billion yuan, up 748.28% year on year. The net profit attributable to the parent company in the third quarter was 48.656 million yuan, up 195.51% year on year.
Wu Zhicai, director and professor of the Guangdong Tourism Strategy and Policy Research Center of South China University of Technology, told the China Economic Times that the performance of tourism enterprises has increased significantly due to the expansion of domestic demand and consumption promotion policies, rigid tourism demand, numerous holidays and other factors. The tourism industry chain has recovered and grown rapidly. Domestic scenic spots, hotels, catering and other sectors, as well as outbound tourism related sectors still have great growth potential.
"After the epidemic, the consumption capacity of the tourism market was fully released. At the same time, a series of policies and measures to stimulate the growth of tourism consumption demand were introduced, which objectively promoted the growth of tourism enterprises' profits." Ma Xiaolong, a professor of Nankai University, told the China Economic Times that at present, a solid foundation of market demand for tourism has been established, The growth of tourism demand is the direct reason for the growth of enterprise performance. It also presents the characteristics of stability, sustainability, comprehensiveness, and integration and linkage with related industries.
As for the focus of tourism enterprises in the next step, Ma Xiaolong believes that, in view of the current international environment and economic development trend, it is still necessary to actively seek a market pattern with the construction of the domestic tourism market as the main body and the circulation of the international and domestic tourism markets as the driving force. While ensuring the stable and healthy development of the domestic tourism market, actively expand the inbound tourism market and standardize and orderly develop the outbound tourism market.
In Wu Zhicai's view, the next focus of tourism enterprises is to better match the industrial structure and scale with the demand. First, optimize the supply, strengthen the supply of personalized products for young groups and "one old and one small", develop new scenes of urban and rural leisure and smart tourism consumption, and make the product experience match the demand; Second, change the mode, promote resource integration, culture and technology drive, and operation drive to become an important support for enterprise innovation and development, optimize resource layout, open up demand and product docking channels, and achieve high-quality and sustainable development of enterprises.
Develop inbound and outbound tourism market
While the domestic tourism market has fully recovered, inbound and outbound tourism is slightly weak. However, tourism enterprises are still optimistic about the prospect of inbound and outbound tourism.
Ctrip pointed out in its financial report that outbound travel recovered significantly. Although the cross-border air passenger volume in the third quarter only recovered to about 50% of the same period in 2019, the outbound hotel and air ticket booking volume of Ctrip has recovered to about 80% of the same period in 2019. The global tourism market is promising, and Ctrip's international business continues to maintain a strong momentum. The total bookings of Ctrip International OTA platform in the third quarter increased by more than 100% compared with the same period last year and the same period in 2019.
Tongcheng said in the financial report that the demand for outbound travel will increase steadily in the coming year, which will bring additional growth to the industry.
Ma Xiaolong believes that the inbound tourism market is one of the most important parts of China's tourism market pattern, which is of great significance in promoting economic development and the formation of the opening up pattern. However, affected by the global environment and economic development trend, the current inbound tourism market is facing enormous difficulties, and it should be difficult to form the scale and impact before the epidemic in the short term. The further facilitation of exit and entry policies will, to a certain extent, stimulate the development of the inbound and outbound tourism market. However, in the long run, it is still more affected by the changes in the political and economic macro environment. Boosting the level of economic development and enhancing the mass consumption capacity are the fundamental driving forces for further growth of the entire market.
A few days ago, China decided to expand the scope of unilateral visa free countries on a trial basis, and try to implement unilateral visa free policies for ordinary passport holders in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. During the period from December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024, ordinary passport holders from the above countries may enter China without visa for no more than 15 days for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit in China. It is believed that this is just the beginning. In the future, we will continue to expand visa free countries and regions, which will undoubtedly greatly promote the demand of the entry-exit market.
"At present, entry-exit tourism is in an orderly recovery stage, and the entry-exit tourism market has huge potential." Wu Zhicai suggested that in the future, under the continuous promotion of visa, flight and other related favorable policies, the entry-exit tourism market needs to make efforts from the following two aspects: first, to create or optimize world-class tourism destinations and scenic spots, and promote frequent business and economic activities Cities with scarce history, culture and natural landscape took the lead in building city tourism brands, promoting international exchanges and communication through innovation, and telling Chinese stories; Second, the outbound tourism market supports the development of customized boutique groups and "Belt and Road" related products, and explores the combination of outbound tourism and national value system output.
