Author | Qin Zihui

Typesetting | Mico

With the change of economic level and consumption concept, silver-haired people have already become an important source of tourists that can't be ignored in the tourism industry in the 21th century, and the tourism products of middle-aged and elderly people have been iteratively upgraded and occupied the highlands.

An epidemic in COVID-19, which has ravaged the whole world, has been the first to hit the tourism industry, but it still hasn't dispelled the enthusiasm of middle-aged and elderly tourists. Two years later, they went out of their homes one after another, continued to gallop on the road and arrived in the distance.

Not long ago, AgeClub interviewed Xie Xiaoqing, a senior researcher at Ctrip Research Institute, and she shared with us the latest trends of the elderly tourism market in China in recent years, as well as the change and innovation of Ctrip platform.

The following is the interview content:

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The number of 61+ users on the platform has reached ten million

The overall order volume has increased by 37% year-on-year

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Xie Xiaoqing: Ctrip has been serving the elderly since its establishment in 1999, and has launched some corresponding group tour products. The form of group tour is more reasonable for the arrangement of itinerary, more considerate for tourists, more in line with the travel habits of most elderly people, and has become their favorite product.

in 2119, Ctrip officially launched the "111% transparent group tour" product, and since then it has broken the history of opaque information about group tours. In 2113, Ctrip released the "drilling standard" for group tours and began to enter a new stage. In 2115, Ctrip, together with 11,111 travel agencies, issued the "Six-fold Travel Guarantee" and the advance payment mechanism to improve the guarantee level and customer experience of group tour products.

In fact, when outbound travel was still open before the epidemic, many elderly people with high consumption levels were very willing to choose outbound travel. Compared with the variety of travel modes in China, they basically only choose to travel with groups abroad. Therefore, it is a more reassuring choice for the elderly to improve tourism security and introduce the advance payment mechanism.

In addition to upgrading the product mechanism, we have also made many innovations in R&D. Previously, Ctrip created many new concepts and formats in the group tour market. For example, a semi-self-help tour means that tourists set off in groups, and the travel agency matches the hotel and part of the itinerary, and sets aside a day or two for tourists to move freely. In addition, there are private groups, exquisite groups and destination groups.

When it comes to the field of the elderly, Ctrip has specially launched the "Parents' Rest assured Tour" product, and has been improving and upgrading it around the special needs of the elderly. In 2119, Ctrip put forward the concept of "new follow-up group", which has fewer team members and flexible itinerary, and pays more attention to personalized customization while improving quality.

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What is the current user scale and growth rate of the elderly group on Ctrip?

Xie Xiaoqing: We define elderly users as people over 61 years old. At present, the number of users over 61 years old on Ctrip platform has reached tens of millions. In terms of growth rate, we conducted statistics at the end of last year. As of October 2121, the number of registered users aged 61 and above on Ctrip platform increased by 22% compared with that in 2121, and the overall order volume increased by 37% year-on-year, among which the order for group tour products increased significantly.

At present, the growth rate of the domestic market is relatively good, except that many tourism products of the elderly groups are booked by their children, which shows that the demand for the elderly tourism market is huge at present, and the epidemic has not dealt a big blow to the elderly's willingness to travel.

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According to Ctrip, what is the current proportion of elderly tourists in different age ranges? Which age group of elderly people are the main force of travel?

Xie Xiaoqing: With regard to the age range of elderly tourists, the group aged 61-71 accounts for the highest proportion. Among them, the population aged 61-65 is the largest, accounting for more than 61%; The population aged 66-71 accounts for about 1/4. Generally speaking, the elderly in the age range of 61-71 are still in an absolute dominant position.

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In which areas are the elderly more enthusiastic about traveling?

Xie Xiaoqing: We have studied the orders of elderly users over 61 years old on Ctrip, and found that the top ten places where users live are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Liaoning, Shandong, Hubei and Shaanxi, which is quite in line with the economic development of various places.

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What is the importance or positioning of the elderly tourism business in Ctrip?

Last year, Global Travel News, a media in the tourism industry, interviewed Mr. Liang Jianzhang, the founder of Ctrip, and asked him how he viewed the impact of the aging population on tourism companies. We feel that this trend has little impact on Ctrip, which has been established for a long time and the initial users are now older.

With regard to the positioning of the elderly tourism business, the mainstream business is more of a group tour product, and there is a separate theme of the elderly tour at present. Because the comfort and cost performance are the main considerations for the elderly to travel, Ctrip has also introduced various standards in recent years so that the elderly and their children can make comprehensive choices according to the grade price of products and the brand sales of travel agencies. For example, the general elderly pay more attention to whether the round trip is a direct flight, whether the accommodation is a high-star hotel, whether there are self-funded projects or shopping arrangements.

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Yunnan-Guichuan/Daxi-Beicheng Tourism Holy Land

Products accelerate to penetrate the sinking market

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What are the most important changes compared with the elderly tourism data released by Ctrip in recent years?

Xie Xiaoqing: After a comparative study of the data in recent years, including destination, order volume and consumption preference, we feel that there really hasn't been much change. For example, the consumption demand and affordability of the elderly have hardly changed much.

I think this is actually a good thing, which shows that the impact of the epidemic on the tourism of the elderly may only be reflected in the choice of destinations, because there is no option of "traveling abroad". Older people who used to choose overseas travel, their consumption products are all at the level of 11,111 yuan. Although their destinations are now transferred to China, they still need to meet their consumption level of 11,111 yuan.

We have studied the most expensive hotels for Ctrip platform users aged over 61. The top five hotels in terms of price are Shanghai Oriental Pearl Sky Hotel, Shanghai Yangyun Anman Hotel, Moganshan Naked Valley Resort, JW Marriott Haitang Bay in Sanya and Shanghai Sheshan Shimao Intercontinental Hotel (Shenkeng Hotel). It can be seen that their consumption level is not much different from that of young people, which can break the stereotype of the outside world.

In addition, there is an obvious trend. In recent years, customized tours are more popular among group tours, with the fastest growth. Because the elderly generally don't want their itinerary to be too tight, their children have the idea of helping them buy customized tours or private groups, which also reflects their high requirements for the quality of tourism products.

This kind of customized tours and private groups often don't need the elderly to worry too much. Usually, the elderly make demands to their children, and the children communicate with the customizer, and they are only responsible for playing and enjoying themselves. They often put forward some special ideas, such as having a birthday during the trip, which these tour guides can help realize.

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What theme is the most popular for the elderly tourists?

Xie Xiaoqing: From the perspective of destination, we find that Yunnan-Guichuan and Northwest China are more popular with the elderly in the past two years, except Hainan, the old online celebrity. Previously, we thought that the climate and environmental conditions in northwest China were not suitable for the physical conditions of the elderly, and they were not willing to travel to such places for a long time, but the facts were just the opposite.

Because the fragmented products are perfect on our platform now, the elderly can easily book a car rental, and go on road trip will travel to the northwest, thus providing them with more choices. Even we found that in the car rental order, there are cars for the team to go together. According to statistics, as of last October, the rental orders of users aged 61 and above on the platform increased by 118%, which is one of the fastest growing categories in several business lines of Ctrip.

We have counted the top ten tourism products at present, and the destinations are mostly tourist cities famous for their natural scenery, including Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang, Tianchi Lake in Tianshan Mountain in Xinjiang, Taizhou in Zhejiang, Huanglong in Jiuzhaigou, Wulong in Chongqing, Lishui in Southwest Zhejiang, Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi, Libo in Guizhou and Qianhu Miao Village in Xijiang. In addition, Leshan, Emei Mountain, Lijiang and Lugu Lake also have large market shares.

At the same time, many elderly people have an increasing demand for historical sites, and they may buy customized tour products, for example, they hope that the tour guide will focus on their own knowledge of human history. It is also common for the elderly to fly to their destinations spontaneously, participate in local half-day small groups and visit red holy places.

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Older tourists prefer to travel in groups. Is it popular for one of them to travel in groups alone?

Xie Xiaoqing: At present, there are few cases of a ginseng group. Most elderly people still prefer to travel with their relatives and friends. Because the general tourism products will arrange accommodation in a unified way, it is customary for two people to live in one room. If one person participates in a group tour, there is a situation that tourists need to subsidize the price difference of a single room, so the elderly do not particularly like to participate in a group tour alone, unless it is a group tour product with a social theme.

One-person travel mainly focuses on the whole journey or the scene of traveling with a group at the destination. Visitors of this kind of products can flexibly arrange their own specific itinerary and choose whether to follow the tour guide or not. This trend is increasing because the elderly are learning to book their own air tickets and hotels, and the shuttle service is becoming more and more perfect.

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Xie Xiaoqing: There are many elderly users on Ctrip. We also find that more and more elderly users are willing to share some interesting experiences and stories that happened during their journey.

We have observed that TV and past books are the most recommended channels for the elderly at present, which will stimulate their "punching desire". In addition, some short video platforms, such as Tik Tok and Aauto Quicker, which are very popular now, also have a certain impact on their tourism consumption behavior.

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Compared with young people, are elderly tourists willing to punch in some popular online celebrity attractions?

Xie Xiaoqing: Nowadays, the elderly are particularly willing to punch in, especially when they brush the Tik Tok, they will see some places such as the glass plank road at high altitude and the lake and sea in online celebrity, and they are all interested.

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What are the differences between male tourists and female tourists in their travel choices?

Xie Xiaoqing: Female tourists prefer to go to natural scenic spots, because these places can meet their needs for taking photos as a souvenir. Male tourists prefer to visit historical sites, and they are willing to go to such places with cultural heritage and historical stories.

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What are the obvious differences in the travel choices of elderly tourists of different ages?

Xie Xiaoqing: At present, the main group of elderly users on Ctrip platform is still 61-71 years old, which is relatively young. Their ideas are also very novel, and they often join the group or follow their children to travel around the country. Older people in this age group will also book their own hotels, and there is not much difference between them in terms of price and star rating.

For the elderly aged 71-81, they tend to travel with their children or younger relatives, so that more people can take care of them. Most of these elderly people need someone in the team to communicate with the tour guide and make decisions on destination and itinerary, with relatively little requirement for autonomy.

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In 2119, Ctrip mentioned the tourism data of the elderly in county towns and villages. What is the growth of the elderly tourists in the sinking market? What are the differences between the high-speed cities and the old tourists in the sinking market in their travel choices?

Xie Xiaoqing: What we see is that the consumption power of the elderly in high-speed cities is higher, but the growth rate of the elderly tourists in the sinking market must exceed that in high-speed cities.

With the change of consumption concept of the elderly in these areas, their time to take care of their children at home is decreasing, so they have more opportunities to travel. At the same time, the children of the elderly are now more willing to spend for their parents and buy tourism products.

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At present, the average consumption level of the elderly is higher than other age groups. Is price one of the important factors that affect their travel choices?

Xie Xiaoqing: In fact, the influence of price on the purchase of tourism products by the elderly depends on different regions. Based on our current observation and communication with users, the conclusion is that the elderly in first-tier cities and new first-tier cities are not sensitive to prices, but have higher requirements for destinations, service levels, accommodation star standards and overall experience. The elderly in second-and third-tier cities pay more attention to the richness of tourist attractions and are more sensitive to prices.

At present, the tourism products with a price of 2,111-3,111 yuan on Ctrip platform are the most popular, but this is not a very high level, and it can only be said that it represents the average level of most elderly people.

in order to meet the needs of some elderly people, the platform has been iteratively launching some higher-end and better-quality products, such as customized tours in Xinjiang, Linzhi, Beijing, Tibet, etc., with a per capita consumption of more than 6,111 yuan, and the room for such products to rise is relatively large.

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The way of ordering and payment is mainly for the elderly themselves.