The Q3 of 2011 witnessed 19.38m. Chinese tourists heading for destinations outside the nation

After thorough study and analysis of statistic data on Chinese outbound tourists in the third quarter of 2011, as well as the data of actual reservation and transaction through ctrip.com, experts from China Tourism Academy, a professional research institution directly under the National Tourism Administration, and ctrip.com, a leading comprehensive tourism service company in China, have jointly worked out the ranking for the Top Ten Most Visited Destinations, the Top Ten Most Popular Outbound Tour Islands, the Top Ten Most Popular Self-guided Tour Destinations, the Top Ten Most Popular Outbound Tour Cities, the Top Ten Destinations of Travel Insurance Chosen by Tourists, and the Top Ten Popular Airline Companies. Besides, an in-depth insight into what’s behind the ranking is also offered by these experts.

Booming market demands and proliferating outbound tourists. In spite of the frequent occurrence of various disasters and unexpected accidents throughout the whole year in the world, Chinese outbound tour market still showed a vigorous growth as pushed by the strong demands of people in the nation. The third quarter of 2011 witnessed 19.38 million Chinese tourists heading for destinations outside the nation, a 26% year-on-year increase. To put it more specifically, the growth rate for destinations within Asia stays at 28%, America 31%, Europe 25%, Africa 15%, and others regions 72%.

Tourist flows to Japan shrunk out of unexpected accidents there, market potential further released due to relaxed visa policies. Even though Japanese government has enlarged the application scope for Chinese individual eligible to travel to Japan since July 1, and further relaxed its visa policy for Chinese individual tourists since September by abolishing the former requirements of “applicants should have occupation of certain social status and financial capability” and extending the maxima stay duration from 15 days to 30 days, A huge slump was still observed in the number of Chinese tourists heading for Japan in the third quarter. Indeed, it is a 26% drop compared with the proportion of the same period of last year. In contrast, a 27% increase was noticed in tourists heading for Korea, as stipulated by, among many other comprehensive factors, the Plan on Relaxing the Visa Criterions for Tourists from China promulgated by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea, which adds Visa of multiple entries in one year into the application scope. Meanwhile, mainland tourists making Taiwan their tour destinations also increased by 12% in the third quarter as a result of the implementation of related tourism polices between the straits has deepened beyond tentative stage, and more passage flights were made available for the public.

Soaring educational and waterside tours in summer break. With the arrival of summer break, USA and Hong Kong became especially hot destinations, to which Chinese parents wish their children travel for eye-opening and life-enriching experience. As a result, USA-bounded tour rose by 34% in the third quarter, and Hong Kong-bounded tour by 25%. Ctrip.com was also a big driving force behind the scene as it has successfully organized many such educational tour groups for Chinese students during the summer break. Meanwhile, a great amount of Chinese tourists were found flocking to scenic islands for a cool summer and as a response to the enhanced tourism publicity efforts from such island countries. For example, Chinese tourists to Thailand grew by over 47% in the third quarter, Malaysia 87%. It is noticed by ctrip.com from the outbound tourism cases it has assisted in during the same period that Phuket Island, Bali Island, Maldives, Chejudo Island turned out to be the ones for which visas are most easily to get. Island tours facilitated by convenient traffic are most popular in summer time.

Individual tours driven heavily by the relaxed visa policies. Individual tour, which accounted for 92% of Chinese outbound tour in the third quarter, was indisputably the significant driving force behind the swift growth. Self-guided tour, which was on an upwards trend during the recent years, is subject to successful application of visas. It is found by ctrip.com that the most popular self-guided tour destinations are those boasting low threshold for visa application or having their visa procedures simplified greatly. Starting from the third quarter of this year, many countries and regions, with Japan and Korean as exceptions, have simplified their visa requirements for Chinese tourism applicants. For example, Ireland has added China into the coverage of its Short-term Visa-free Plan. New Zealand has reformed its application procedures for tourism visa to a great extend with application document package in Chinese allowed now.

Improved service quality made outbound tour more attractive. In order to cater to the skyrocketing demands of Chinese people touring abroad, overseas countries rushed to introduce more flights to directly connect with China. For example, starting from the third quarter, the direct flights between Gimpo and Beijing were made possible by Korean Air; direct flights between Chinese domestic cities and Hawaii were operated on a regular basis. According to Plan of Spain to Attract More Chinese Tourists, various measures will be adopted for this purpose. Among others, more offices will be set across China by European tourism authorities; more travel brochures will be published in Chinese; more tourism products will be tailored out to adapt to Chinese tourists. In addition, Victoria State of Australia has announced its 10-year tourism business promotion plan aiming at China. Air France is stepping up its efforts in providing ground service, broadcast service, cabin crew service in Chinese as well as Chinese-flavored food, etc. Two hotel giants, namely Hilton and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, planed to assign a Chinese-speaking staff in many hotels under their umbrella, with teapot and slippers available in each guest room, Chinese-styled breakfast and chopsticks provided upon request.

Joint-venture travel agency started to engage in Chinese outbound tour business. The so-called “catfish effect” has been brought into play with the involvement of joint-venture travel agency in Chinese outbound tour business. JTB New Century International Tours Co., Ltd. started to organize Chinese citizens to tour abroad on August 25, with its itinerary mainly focused on six counties in northeast Japan.

The Top Ten Most Visited Destinations in the Third Quarter: Hong Kong China, Macau China, Korea, Malaysia, USA, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan China, Singapore, Russia.

The Top Ten Most Popular Outbound Tour Islands in the Third Quarter: Phuket Island, Bali Island, Maldives, Chejudo Island, Hawaii, Sabah, Okinawa, Boracay Island, Saipan Island, Mauritius.
The Top Ten Most Popular Self-guided Tour Destinations in the Third Quarter: Hong Kong, Phuket Island, Maldives, Bali Island, Singapore, Hawaii, Seoul, Tokyo, Sabah, Cambodia.

The Top Ten Most Popular Outbound Tour Cities in the Third Quarter: Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Taipei, Osaka, Kuala Lumpur, Macao, Rome.

The Top Ten Destinations of Travel Insurance Chosen by Tourists in the Third Quarter: Europe, Taiwan China, Malaysia, Australia, Vietnam, Korea, the Philippines, Bali Indonesia, Thailand, USA.
The Top Ten Popular Airline Companies in the Third Quarter: China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragon Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express Airways, Air China International, Asiana Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air Macau, Korean Air.

MAKE YOUR TRAVEL WORRY FREE WITH TRAVEL INSURANCE

As you plan your next travel experience you should be certain not to overlook one very important detail—travel insurance. Many travelers opt to skip this step in the hopes of saving a little money. What you may not know is that insurance does not have to be expensive. In fact, this very cheap travel add-on can get you one thing that money does not always buy--peace of mind.

When you invest in a high quality policy you are guaranteeing that if the unthinkable happens and you or someone in your party experiences an accident or becomes ill, you are protected. For Australians traveling abroad, travel insurance will protect you from financial disaster should and accident or illness incur. You will also be protected in the case of property theft. The Australian government believes insurance is important enough to advise travelers to skip their trips altogether if they are not insured.

Medical situations are a particularly important consideration when determining whether or not to invest in an insurance policy. The need for insurance is not limited to international travel however, and you would do well to investigate insurance that covers inside Australia trips too.

You can select an insurance policy that covers a wide range of misfortunes including trip cancellation or interruption, medical costs, and theft of property. Policies are available in a wide range of types from insurance for the mature traveler to special insurance for backpackers. Prices will vary policy to policy but you can find cheap travel insurance. There are many reasonably priced policies available that will offer you good coverage. If you are a frequent traveler, you may determine that an annual policy is the way to go or you may be able to secure insurance through your employer.

Finding cheap insurance to cover your trip is not difficult. You need only turn to the closest computer and search for trip insurance. You will find many websites that offer comprehensive search services. You will find sites that offer information and price quotations for single companies as well as good portal sites that will provide you with price quotations for a number of companies. All you need to do is enter your information once and you’ll receive all the information you need to locate a policy that will give you the comfort of knowing that you can travel without worry.

The next time you travel do not neglect to include travel insurance in your plans. It only takes one occurrence to erase your savings and eat up your nest egg. You do not want this to happen to you. When you purchase insurance for your trip you are not only buying peace of mind you are buying protection for your family and your assets. That is one detail you definitely don’t want to over look.

Travel reminders for snowbirds

With fall just around the corner, many snowbirds are itching to finalize their travel plans to warmer climes. If you count yourself among these lucky-ducks, make sure you've made the all necessary arrangements before heading to Florida, Mexico or the Caribbean.

Here's a quick checklistto help you get organized:

Tell a trusted friend or family-member about your plans and ask them to keep an eye on your place while you're away.
Secure your home and turn off the water.
Cancel the newspapers.
Forward or stop mail delivery.
Make photocopies of your travel and personal documents for yourself and the trusted friend or family-member as a precaution.
If you're driving to your destination, find out if you need supplemental car insurance.
Find out if you need to update your shots.
Let your bank and credit card company know about your travel plans to avoid any confusion or service disruption.
Most important, buy travel insurance.
While most people know that travel insurance is important, many people may not be aware that it is now a prerequisite for entering Cuba.

"Since May 1, 2010, Cuban authorities require visitors to provide proof that they can cover their own medical costs," said François Morel, a sales consultant at Desjardins Financial Security. "Subsequently, the Cuba Tourist Board advised that Canadians could present their provincial health insurance cards as proof of medical insurance. But, supplemental travel insurance is necessary because the provincial health insurance plans only offer minimum medical coverage abroad."

"Regardless of whether you're out of the country for a day or for several weeks, accidents or illnesses happen all the time and it's best to be prepared," said Morel. "Hospital stays abroad can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars. So, it's best to take a few minutes to buy reliable travel insurance coverage."

Here are some things to remember when buying travel insurance:

It's convenient: It can be bought on the internet or by phone.
It's flexible: You'll find the right policy that suits your needs based on your age, health situation and trip duration.
It's reliable: Coverage provides 24/7 medical assistance support so you know you can count on someone in case of an emergency.