China Outbound Tourism Research Institute

What China Outbound Tourism Research Institute does

COTRI is a privately-held consulting and research institute specializing exclusively in the China outbound tourism market, founded in Hamburg in 2004 by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt and now operating through Express Castle Limited Germany (HRB 159753), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Express Castle Ltd. The firm serves international tourism service providers (hotels, tour operators, attractions), Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), and government tourism authorities seeking to attract and serve Chinese outbound travellers, with named engagements including the Spanish Tourism Authority (Turespaña) and Edith Cowan University.

The product portfolio is built around three core assets: (1) COTRI Analytics, a quantitative and socio-demographic dataset covering 80 countries and destinations from 2011–2023 that has been supplied to Bloomberg since 2015; (2) Chinese Tourism Training (CTT), a self-administered online training platform with 19 Basic and 40+ Advanced sessions delivered in five languages via payhip.com; and (3) COTRI Intelligence, a tiered weekly subscription publication (Free / Premium from €39/month / Premium Plus). These are complemented by project-based strategy consulting anchored in the proprietary Meaningful Tourism Paradigm, half-day and full-day workshops (including the post-pandemic Recovery Day), the CTW Chinese Tourist Welcome Award programme (operating since 2004 with 120+ recipients), and eBook publications including the China Outbound Tourism Handbook 2023.

The business model blends professional services revenue (consulting, workshops, custom projects) with recurring subscription revenue (CTT training, COTRI Intelligence) and one-time publication sales, monetised through direct website inquiries, LinkedIn and YouTube content marketing with 20,000+ combined followers, and presence at major industry events (ITB Berlin, ITB China, GITF). Distribution is global with multi-language coverage, and the firm's value proposition rests on the founder's 45+ years of China experience, the absence of comparable independent research institutes in the niche, and the established CTW Award as an industry quality signal.

Name

China Outbound Tourism Research Institute

Legal name

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (trademark of Express Castle Limited Germany, a subsidiary of Express Castle Ltd.)

Website

https://china-outbound.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

COTRI is a Hamburg-based independent research and consulting institute (founded 2004) that provides market intelligence, training, and strategy consulting to international tourism service providers, DMOs, and NTOs seeking to attract Chinese outbound tourists.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tourism Research and Consulting

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

akta.pro primary industry

Vacation Rental & Alternative Lodging Market Intelligence (THALAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Accommodation Contracting & Bedbank Services (Local) (THAKAEAI)

Keywords

• China outbound tourism
• Tourism market intelligence
• Destination consulting
• Tourism training programs
• Travel data analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Strategy consulting projects based on decades of experience and scientific methods including the Meaningful Tourism paradigm, from market research to implementation support.
2. Training Programs: Online training sessions (CTT) including Basic (19 introductory sessions) and Advanced (40+ specialised sessions) tiers, each 20 minutes long with weekly Q&A sessions.
3. COTRI Intelligence Subscription: Weekly consulting, analysis, data and news publication available in Free, Premium (from 39,- EUR/month), and Premium Plus tiers with varying access levels including webinars and one-to-one consulting.
4. Workshops: Standard and customised half-day or full-day workshops on Strategy, Marketing, Market Segments etc., available online or offline in English, German, Italian, Spanish.
5. Recovery Day Workshop: Single-day workshop offering orientation, information, insights and answers for strategy and next steps, available in-house or virtual.
6. Publications: Sale of eBooks including China Outbound Tourism Handbook 2023 (88 Practical Ways), COTRI Market Reports 2015-2021, and other specialised publications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

COTRI is an independent research institute specialised in the China outbound tourism market. It sells consulting, market research, quantitative data (COTRI Analytics), online training (Chinese Tourism Trainings), workshops, and a subscription publication (COTRI Intelligence) to help destinations and tourism providers attract and serve Chinese visitors.

Product overview

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute is a consulting, research, and training organization (founded 2004) offering a portfolio of interconnected services for the China outbound tourism market. The core offerings include COTRI Intelligence (subscription-based weekly research and analysis), Chinese Tourism Training CTT (online training with Basic and Advanced modules), COTRI Analytics (quantitative data for 80+ destinations), Strategy Consulting, and Workshops. The portfolio is complemented by the CTW Award program (industry recognition since 2004), the Meaningful Tourism Paradigm framework, and publications including the China Outbound Tourism Handbook and COTRI Market Reports. The company operates primarily through subscription models and project-based consulting engagements, serving international tourism service providers, destinations, and government tourism authorities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• COTRI Intelligence: Weekly consulting, analysis, data and news publication for the post-pandemic Chinese outbound tourism market
• CTT (Chinese Tourism Training)
• COTRI Analytics
• CTW Award (Chinese Tourist Welcome Award)
• Meaningful Tourism

Products and services

• COTRI Intelligence Weekly consulting, analysis, data and news publication covering the post-pandemic Chinese outbound tourism market and changing consumer preferences. Available in Free, Premium (from €39/month), and Premium Plus tiers with online one-to-one consulting calls. For tourism stakeholders seeking ongoing market intelligence.
• Chinese Tourism Training (CTT) Self-administered online training sessions for post-pandemic Chinese outbound tourism, including Basic (19 introductory sessions) and Advanced (40+ specialized sessions) programs. Each session is 20 minutes with weekly Q&A sessions, available in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. For tourism businesses training staff to serve Chinese visitors.
• COTRI Analytics Quantitative and socio-demographic data covering 80 countries and destinations from 2011-2023, with customized data sets, forecasts, and additional indicators available on demand. For researchers, analysts, DMOs and NTOs needing reliable China outbound tourism data.
• COTRI Strategy Consulting Consulting services based on successful projects worldwide, using decades of experience and scientific methods including the Meaningful Tourism paradigm, from market research to implementation. For destinations and providers developing China market strategy.
• COTRI Workshops Standard and customized workshops as stand-alone or connected to projects, offered in half-day or full-day formats, online or offline in English, German, Italian and Spanish covering strategy, marketing, and market segments.
• China Outbound Recovery Day Single-day workshop providing orientation, information, and answers for strategy and next steps for the new wave of Chinese visitors, offered in-house or virtual with morning training and afternoon roadmap development.
• CTW Award (Chinese Tourist Welcome Award) Award program organized by COTRI since 2004 recognizing tourism service providers, DMOs, NTOs, retailers, and marketing companies for excellence in serving the Chinese outbound market. Over 120 organizations have received the award.
• China Outbound Tourism Handbook 2023 (88 Practical Ways) Handbook written for tourism stakeholders, destination authorities, government officials and businesses in related sectors, providing practical advice for strategy development, product adaptation, marketing and sales. Available in Italian, Spanish, French and German versions.
• COTRI Market Reports (2015-2021) eBooks of COTRI Market Report issues, best editorials of COTRI Weekly, and 2021 outlook documents tracking China's outbound tourism development from 2015-2021.
• COTRI Business Delegations Organized business delegations for tourism stakeholders to explore Chinese outbound tourism opportunities.
• COTRI Marketing Services Marketing consulting and support services for reaching Chinese outbound tourists.

Quantifiable outcome

• 228 million outbound Chinese travellers per year forecast by 2030

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• ETC European Tourism CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023COTRI signed a cooperation agreement with the ETC European Tourism Commission in 2023 to support sustainable Chinese outbound tourism market development.
• CtripflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 17 May 2018Ctrip, leading Chinese OTA, became official sponsor of the CTW Chinese Tourist Welcome Awards in 2018. The partnership was recognised as a strong reflection of the programme's level and market importance, with Ctrip committed to returning in the same role for future events.
• trip.comcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2018trip.com co-organised the CTW China Tourist Welcome Award alongside COTRI, helping to recognise high achievement in Chinese outbound tourism internationally.
• BloombergcoreTechnology or IntegrationCOTRI has supplied data to Bloomberg since 2015, integrating its China outbound tourism market data into Bloomberg's financial and market intelligence platforms.
• Regional and Content Partners (COTRI Intelligence)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional partners and Content partners provide additional content for specific regions and industries within COTRI Intelligence weekly publication.
• WTCF World Tourism Cities FederationminorOthersProf. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt serves as Member of the Expert Committee of the WTCF World Tourism Cities Federation (Beijing), a UNWTO-affiliated tourism cities association.
• EUCNC EU-China CommissionminorOthersProf. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt serves as Secretary General for Cultural and Tourism Industry at the EUCNC EU-China Commission (Brussels/Beijing), facilitating cross-border tourism industry cooperation.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Phocuswright: A leading global travel industry research firm producing reports, events, and data across accommodation, OTAs, and tours. Comparable to COTRI as a research/consulting counterpart for travel stakeholders, though broader in geographic and segment scope than COTRI's China-only focus.
• Skift: A global travel industry media and research platform covering trends across hospitality, OTAs, and destinations. Comparable to COTRI as a research and intelligence provider for tourism professionals, though operating at broader category and geographic scope.
• ADARA: A travel data co-operative and audience platform providing destination and traveller intelligence to tourism marketers. Comparable to COTRI as a data-led vendor serving DMOs and travel brands, though its primary asset is first-party traveller data rather than socio-demographic research.
• Euromonitor International: A global market research firm with extensive travel and tourism coverage, including country-level data on Chinese outbound flows. Comparable to COTRI as a data and insights vendor to tourism boards and travel companies, but serving many other industries and geographies.
• STR (CoStar): A hospitality data and benchmarking provider supplying performance metrics to hotels and tourism stakeholders. Comparable to COTRI as a research/data counterpart serving tourism service providers, though focused on accommodation performance rather than source-market consumer research.
• Trip.com Group: A leading Chinese OTA group (parent of Ctrip and trip.com) that already partners with COTRI on the CTW Award. Comparable because it operates both as a data-rich platform on Chinese outbound behaviour and a customer for destination insights, overlapping with COTRI's intelligence product.
• China Tourism Academy: The official Chinese government-affiliated tourism research body publishing authoritative data on Chinese inbound and outbound tourism. Comparable to COTRI as a producer of China travel market intelligence, though with a policy-led mandate and Chinese domestic focus.
• ForwardKeys: A travel data analytics company providing forward-looking air ticketing and destination intelligence. Comparable to COTRI because it sells data-driven insights to DMOs, NTOs, and tourism operators, although its core asset is air booking data rather than socio-demographic tourism research.

Direct peers

• Dragon Trail International: A digital marketing and research consultancy specialised in Chinese outbound and inbound tourism. Comparable to COTRI because it serves the same destination marketers, hotels, and tourism boards targeting Chinese travellers, with overlapping research, content, and consulting offerings.
• Jing Travel: A research and media platform covering Chinese outbound luxury and experiential travel. Comparable to COTRI because it produces data-driven insights and trend reporting for international tourism stakeholders seeking to attract affluent Chinese visitors.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cotri_outbound
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCzS9lChY8Ac82I-c45Leu5g
• Facebookfacebook.com/ChinaOutbound
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cotri-china-outbound-tourism-research-institute
• Instagraminstagram.com/china.outbound.tourism/?hl=en

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about China Outbound Tourism Research Institute