The Chinese FIT development report for 2012 was released on January 14, 2013, in Ctrip's Annual Summit Forum. The report shows:
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu became second-tier FIT source cities
The maturity of the FIT market tends to decrease progressively from east coast to the mid-west area. Shanghai and Beijing are the first and most mature FIT market, and have a substantial lead. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu are growing rapidly. These seven cities are now China’s main FIT market.
FIT travelers have strong consuming power
FIT travelers usually choose high-end hotels. And they prefer to spend more money on local life experience, not just sightseeing or shopping.
Flexible visa policies give impetus to overseas FIT market
More and more countries issue individual tourist visas to Chinese citizens, which provide good conditions to FIT. Hong Kong & Macau and Southeast Asia are still the hottest destinations, but Japan and Korea are catching up. FIT travelers to western countries, Australia and the Middle East and Africa are growing fast.
The Top Ten source cities are: Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Tianjin, Xiamen, Chongqing.
Top 10 overseas travel destinations: Hong Kong and Macau, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Maldives, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Cambodia, Malaysia.
