China Travel News

The U.S. and China are riding a hotel performance see-saw where one goes up as the other comes down. But travel analysts and executives are downplaying the notion the Delta variant is going to lead to a travel doomsday scenario over the fall and winter.

Got the pandemic under control? That remains a key factor for Chinese tourists to go abroad, a new sentiment survey from Dragon Trail shows. None of that "living-with-the-virus" approach that some Asian destinations are starting to embrace.

In Skift's top stories this week, IHG makes further inroads in the luxury sector, the travel industry grapples with the prolonged absence of Chinese visitors, 2021 emerges as the year of travel companies going public, and the trend of tour operator mergers continues.

China's prolonged absence from global tourism could be impacting more than tourism revenues. Yet, geopolitics aside, Chinese consumer demand for long-haul travel is still alive and well, and it's getting stronger.

China must weigh whether the economic pain is worth the price of such tough lockdown measures in response to outbreaks that pale in comparison to those seen in markets like the U.S.

It took China longer than usual to get over its latest outbreak, even though the country takes a tougher approach than most in curbing the spread of Covid. Vaccines can help prevent another wave of lockdowns and brutal declines in demand amid a surge of cases around the world.

Bookings Holdings Fintech boss Daniel Marovitz says payments is arguably the world's largest industry. Across the online travel universe, look for payments to eventually become a line item — and very material to companies' financials.

China's drop in hotel performance due to an outbreak in the southern part of the country may only be temporary. But it is a reminder that travel's recovery momentum is erratic — even in a country with tough control measures and strong vaccine distribution.

Behind the scenes, China's competition crackdown on internet platforms could eventually have a larger impact on Trip.com Group's partnerships, business practices, and mergers than is generally appreciated. Although a reversal is unlikely, even Trip.com's 2015 acquisition of Qunar has drawn scrutiny.