China's local travel agencies are facing direct competition from travel agencies from all over the world. Improving the competitiveness of the local travel agencies is improving China's inbound tourism market to grow faster.
西安市, China, January 14, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Even though it is forecasted by the World Tourism Organization that China's tourism industry will take up to 8.6% of world market share to become the world's top tourism industry by 2020, there is still a long way to go for China’s inbound tourism market before it grows up.
From a world perspective, the travel service industry in China is relatively new comparing with the whole tourism industry, which has developed over a period of more than 100 years. Accordingly, Chinese travel agencies are less mature and experienced in strategic management, product development, and market completion. Especially under the wave of e-business, it’s easily accessible for any global travel websites to get involved with China’s inbound tourism market, which means that China’s local travel agencies are facing direct competition from all over the world, rather than just from domestic.
To survive the completion from global giants, China’s local travel agencies have to adapt to international practices, reform their operation system, improve management efficiency and looking for effective ways to attract more overseas tourists.
One way is to from alliances with other agencies or tourism-related business such as airline companies, hotels, catering operations, and tourism resorts thus enhancing their competitiveness in providing travel services. To name just one local – LVPAD.COM, a metasearch travel website, has a strong alliance of local travel agencies to offer their travel products and service onto this website. LVPAD.COM has attracted ones of the best local travel agencies in China to grow the platform, which aims to understand the market and identify the characteristics of a perfect trip to China.
Establishment of a large distribution system or enhancement of a brand name will also help to protect the travel agencies from market completion. Cooperation with their foreign competitors and join development of tourism business is another choice. For example, Chinese travel website Ctrip has been invested $0.5bn recently by Priceline, which has been collaborating with Ctrip for a couple of years, to broaden its presence and influence in China.
Anyway, the faster the local travel agencies learn, the sooner they might be able to win the war with global giants, and the faster they can grow China’s inbound tourism market.
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