Different from UGC (use generated content) market in foreign countries, China online travel UGC market is directly in the “free” stage, skipping the “paid” phase, which indicates that users can obtain and share travel guide and note freely. According to iResearch, online traveling UGC users will exceed 360 million in 2015 in China.
In recent years, UGC enterprises are playing more and more important role in China online travel market. UGC enterprises attract users with accurate travel need to provide large amount of traffic for OTA companies and other suppliers. Meanwhile, they can help users make decision.
At present, there are two kinds of parties in China online travel UGC market. One is vertical companies, such as Mafengwo.cn, Qyer.com. The other one is travel guide community, like Ctrip guide online community.
In 2014, users in China online travel UGC market will be 240 million with an increase of 128% from the same period of prior year, which is estimated by iResearch. Besides, there are 80 million people in Ctrip Guide community, ranking top, followed by Mafengwo.cn and Qyer.com with 55 million and 50 million users respectively.
In 2013, Mafengwo.cn’s users were about 20 million while in 2014, the number exceeded 55 million with an increase of 175%. The top 3 travel guide mobile apps in China were Tuniu travel guide, Mafengwo, and Qyer guide in September 2014.
