CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Another good news for China's outbound travel. On September 13, the Thai cabinet meeting decided to implement a visa-free policy for Chinese tourists for five months. In order to further enhance the consumption experience of traveling to Thailand, Ctrip announced that it plans to invest more than 100 million yuan to subsidize tourists to Thailand.

Half an hour after the announcement of the news, the popularity of Thailand-related searches on Ctrip platform soared by 800% month-on-month. On Qunar, the searches of air tickets in Thailand have increased by over 70% from the same time last week, and the searches of hotels in Thailand doubled from the day last week.

According to Ctrip’s data, as of September 12, Thailand's travel bookings for the Mid-Autumn & National Day holiday have increased by 5706% year-on-year, among which hotel orders have increased by 6220% year-on-year. With the implementation of the visa-free policy, more Chinese tourists will visit Thailand during the upcoming holiday and the fourth quarter.

Ctrip said that it will provide all-round services for Chinese tourists to Thailand in terms of price discounts and service guarantees for air tickets, hotels and other products. Within five months of visa exemption, an investment of 100 million yuan has been planned to provide discounts for tours booking hotels in Thailand. Meanwhile, Ctrip Air Ticket has also launched activities such as price spike of air tickets to and from Thailand for many places, and 100 yuan of air ticket price reduction without limit.

On Ctrip, the prices of direct flights from China to popular destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket in Thailand are more favorable. The price of direct flights from Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Xiamen to Bangkok starting at 300 yuan, from Shanghai to Phuket at 500 yuan and from Beijing to Chiang Mai at 700 yuan. Favorable prices of direct flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to Bangkok are also available on Qunar during the National Day holiday. For example, on October 2, the price of flights from Shanghai to Bangkok is 953 yuan, and that from Guangzhou to Bangkok is 701 yuan.

According to Ctrip’s data, as of September 12, the overall orders for outbound travel during the National Day reached 20 times that of the same period last year. Popular countries for outbound travel include Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Britain and so on. (Translated by Wang Zhong, Fathom Language Limited)