Chinese tourism is going mobile

Yidao Yongche has offices in Paris, London, Edinburgh and Manchester in Europe, as well as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix in the United States. It offers such services as airport pickups for passengers who book flights through Ctrip, a major online travel agency and an investor in the app.

China is also arguably the most competitive market for websites and apps that allow tourists to post reviews and swap travel stories.

TripAdvisor is the biggest player in the West and beyond; at least half of its total revenue is generated in North America, with 33 percent coming from Europe and the Middle East. Yet in China, local rivals such as Mafengwo and Qyer are providing stiff competition.

Founded in 2010, Mafengwo is a major tourist information-sharing website and has invested heavily in its mobile Internet services. The company says its app, launched in 2015, has been downloaded 280 million times and has more than 80 million active users.

"The future of tourism apps lies in tapping local resources," says Feng Yao, Mafengwo's director of tourism research.

Mafengwo opened scores of offices in overseas markets in 2015, such as in Phuket and Chiang Mai in Thailand, and is now working with local tourism companies to offer services at lower prices directly to users.

Shanghai-based Dianping, a business-listings website similar to Yelp, has also extended its reach to 860 cities in more than 200 countries and regions overseas, with the most-common searches being for services in Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

Thanks to the technology, industry sources and analysts see no slowdown ahead for China's outbound tourism.