The Beijing Municipal Tourism Administration has filed a request to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism that will allow foreign-owned travel agencies in Beijing to take Chinese citizens overseas, meaning that foreign-owned travel agencies with rich international tourism resources will be able to compete in the outbound travel market in China,
Beijing Business Today reported.
Domestic outbound travel business accounts for the biggest part of total income in China's tourism industry. Once all the players have access to the outbound travel business, then there will be a real battle.
Despite the increased competition, an open market is not a bad thing, Shi Jianzhong, Chief Secretary of the Beijing Tourism Industry Association, told the newspaper. For Chinese companies, this provides them with the opportunity to learn their rivals' advanced business philosophy and product development. Customers can expect to have more choices and better prices.
Competing against domestic providers, foreign-owned travel agencies may easily be trapped in a quagmire of low-price competition and will lose more than they gain. They will have to adjust their strategies, like introducing a more flexible pricing system, to quickly overcome the "culture shock" if they really want to win market share from local agencies.
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