Chinese travellers are heading out to Asia and Europe in record numbers for the eight-day October national holiday, known as the ‘Golden Week’ (October 1-8).
Ctrip.com International, China’s largest travel site, reveals that over six million of its users are going abroad to spend the holidays, visiting 1,155 cities in 88 countries. They expected to spend an average of 9,800 yuan (US$1,500) each.
However, instead of spending most of their vacation time with retail therapy many of these travellers are instead going for experiences – sightseeing to get to know the people and cultures of the destination, dining on local cuisine as well as rest and relaxation.
Chinese tourists are going for experiences instead of shopping (Image credit: AsianDream/iStock)
This is one of the the findings in a study Ctrip conducted with China’s Tourism Academy to track the travel trend for this year’s China national holiday and Mooncake Festival (falls on October 4). The data is based on the information Ctrip collected from its 300 million active users and orders from its travel agency partners.
“Defeating the stereotype of Chinese tourists, more and more travellers are willing to spend money on experiences, rather than shopping. High-end hotels and special travel services/experience have become major expenditure for many Chinese travellers,” is how the report describes the change in priorities.
Where the Chinese travellers are going
It is not surprising that Asian countries are the most popular destinations for the holiday-makers with over 70% choosing to travel there, 45% of whom are going to Southeast Asia. Thailand again tops the list with a fifth (20%) of outbound travellers spending all the entire ‘golden week’ in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai. Japan, Singapore and Vietnam are the most popular destinations following Thailand.
Apart from the traditional favourites, 10 countries have become the new hotspots for Chinese travellers – Morocco, Turkey, The United Arab Emirates, Czech, Finland, Austria, Germany, Vietnam, Cambodia and Italy. All experienced more than 50% in visitor numbers.
The hit TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ mania has also hit China, leading to many travellers making their way to the filming locations worldwide. Ctrip has to thank the series for its “most expensive order” for the national holiday season – a 600,000 yuan (US$90,200) family trip to Iceland to explore the country where many of the TV episodes were filmed. One is the spectacular Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was the stomping ground of the White Walkers .
Thingvellir National Park in Iceland – a filming location for ‘Game of Thrones’ (Image credit: ppnmm/iStock)
Emerging travel trends
The report also notes two new travel trends. One, the main driving force of China’s booming travel market will be women, the young post-80s & 90s generation and families.
Two, more travellers are looking for tailor-made travel services such as ‘avoiding big crowds’, ‘no shopping’, ‘trips for elders and kids’ and ‘private guide’. Ctrip said orders for such services increased over 200% during the national holiday period.
• Featured image credit: miroslav_1/iStock
