By Xie Fang
The development of China's tourism industry has been maintaining an upward trend during the first half of this year with the preliminary semi-annual financial reports of several listed travel agencies revealing robust revenue growth, the China Securities Journal reported on Monday.
Data from Straightflush, a domestic commercial data provider, shows that five out of seven listed travel agencies reported dramatic revenue growths in their preliminary semi-annual financial statements.
Beibu Gulf Tourism, a travel agency based in China's southern province of Guangxi, disclosed that it had seen a year-on-year increase of up to 55 percent in its net profits during the reporting period, which reached RMB 135 million. The company cited its innovative travel solutions as the main reason for its significant net profit growth.
What's more, Guangdong-based Tempus also reported a 60 percent rise in its net profit during the fiscal period, which hit RMB 260 million. The company saw its diverse outbound travel services as the main contributor to its substantial gain in net profit.
Meanwhile, thanks to its popular cableway riding programs as well as its booming hotel business, Yunnan-based Lijing Yunlong Tourism also saw its net profit hit RMB 129 million during the accounting period, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent.
With the coming of the summer vacation for hundreds of millions of Chinese students, China's tourism industry is about to enter its peak season for the year.
The China Tourism Academy estimates that the total number of tourist travels is expected to reach over 5.5 billion by the end of this year, one-fifth of which will be bound for overseas destinations.
Analysts from the Industrial Securities also believe that as outbound travel becomes increasingly popular in China's third and fourth-tier cities, the country's outbound travel market will enter a new phase of rapid growth.
