Tuniu: Peak Season for Booking Outbound Winter Vacation Tours Arrives, Family, Warm Winter and School Tours Top the Bookings

Although there is still lots of time before winter vacation, lots of parents are already planning vacation tours in advance and inquiring about related tourism products. This year’s Spring Festival comes a little bit late and the “Golden Week” of the festival will begin at the end of the winter vacation. With that being said, Tuniu.com predicts that the peak booking season for winter vacation tours will arrive in early February, 2018, for most families prefer not to miss their winter vacation or the Spring Festival.

According to Tuniu.com’s booking data, winter vacation, family, and school tours are preferred, and the related tourism product inquiry and booking amount keep increasing. Through the analysis of the booked tours, we have learned that the buyers prefer trips lasting 5-12 days for outbound tours. Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Australia, the US, Malaysia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, and Egypt are the top 10 nations for winter vacations.

Peak Season to Appear in Early December, Warm Winter Tours to Top Long-Distance Outbound Tours

Since traveling to the long-distance outbound destination countries requires a visa or visas of many countries, which may take some time to get in order, lots of our customers have already begun to inquire and register 1-2 months ago. Therefore, the first peak of the booking season will arrive in early December.

Tuniu.com’s monitoring data shows that as of today, among the top long-distance winter vacation destinations, Australia, the US, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK draw more attention from tourists. Considering temperature as an important factor, warm winter tours win the most tourists. Now, countries in the southern hemisphere such as Australia and New Zealand are in late spring or early summer, and the weather conditions are mild. Therefore, these countries have become the most popular destinations for the winter vacation tourists.

“Our products for Australia and New Zealand have already become popular for customers to book since the early autumn. In addition to enjoying a warm winter, many of our customers who choose to travel to Australia want to breathe fresh air and avoid the smog. Currently, our winter vacation product prices for the destinations in Australia have increased by 30% or so compared with the growth in November,” said a representative of Tuniu.com.

In addition, the US, Canada, and the UK have also been mainstream destinations for tourists because of their outstanding universities and schools. To help their children learn more, broaden their children’s horizon, and experience the advanced educational culture is the most important reason for these parents to choose school tours.

Tuniu.com’s monitoring data shows that the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and New Zealand are still popular destinations for this year’s winter vacation school tours. Tuniu’s “11-Day Finborough School Immersion Programme, 2018” and “15-16 Day American University Study Life Experience” and other products are welcomed by both parents and children. The person representing Tuniu.com said, “As for prices, if tourists can avoid traveling abroad during the Spring Festival, the school tours’ prices won’t increase that much.”

More than 42% of the Customers Book Short-Distance Outbound Family Tours, Amusement Parks and Skiing Products Are Preferred

In addition to school tours, the more meaningful thing for students is no doubt entertainment and relaxation. Those who choose to go abroad before the Spring Festival enjoys more discounts than those during the festival, and so, many parents and students are willing not to go abroad during the festival. The short-distance destinations are more welcomed by parents and children who only aim to enjoy their life and relax.

Tuniu.com’s monitoring data shows that those who book the short-distance family tours account for 42% of these travelers, and Japan, Singapore, Thailand and China’s Hong Kong and Macao, and other short-distance destinations win more tourists’ hearts. Products which enjoy more popularity include the “4 Nights and 5 Days in Tokyo, Japan”, “Shanghai-Hokkaido, Japan 5 Night and 6 Day Hot Spring Tour”, “An Independent Tour in Singapore for 4 Nights and 5 / 6 Days”, “An Independent Tour in Chiang Mai for 4 Nights and 5 / 6 Days”, “Hong Kong Disneyland 4 Day Independent Tour”, and other tours.

If the theme of the tours is concerned, amusement parks and skiing resorts seem to be more popular for tourists who want short-distance tours. Parks that are most appreciated are Hong Kong Disneyland, Universal Studios Osaka, and Singapore Zoo; and the most popular skiing resorts include Furano Ski Resort, Hokkaido, Japan, and Shiga Kogen Ski Resort, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Thanks to the arrival of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, skiing products are increasingly getting more popular. The amount of tourists visiting Hokkaido and Nagano Prefecture from January to February, 2018 will increase by 20%-40% over tourists visiting these areas from November to December, 2017. The “Skiing + Travel” tours that include food, scenic spots and hot springs are more suitable for most amateurs.