They are young, independent, adventurous, preferring to travel solo – these are the post-90s and post-00s women contributing to the rapid growth of outbound travel from China, according to the latest Ctrip and Mastercard 2018 Chinese Travel Consumer Report
The findings revealed that the proportion of tourists from the post-90s and post-00s in the January-September 2018 exceeded 30% in total, surpassing the post-80s for the first time.
These young travellers are “in charge”, said the report. Females who chose to travel independently have risen from 46% in 2016 to 58% in 2018, 16% more than their male counterparts. Those under the age of 29 are the fastest growing travel group, accounting for nearly 50%.
Female tourists spend more than male travellers (+14%), averaging 6,254 yuan (US$291). Females travelling with their female friends spent 1,000 yuan (US$144) more than males holidaying with their male friends. Spending for those born after 2000 is close to 6,000 yuan (US$864).
Chinese tourists are now looking for more diversified experiences rather than shopping, such as wine tasting in Greece or IMG Worlds of Adventure in Dubai, UAE
Ctrip said its number of bookings for overseas entertainment products increased by 110% year-on-year, while the per capita consumption of entertainment booking increased by 24% year-on-year. The company has added 350,000 products to its offerings.
United States is the most popular destination for Chinese holiday-makers (Image credit of Manhattan: sborisov/iStock-Getty Images)
According to MasterCard consumption data, United States, Australia, Canada and Japan remain traditional top countries for outbound travellers, with United States remaining the largest source of leisure travel.
Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and Singapore are also popular, with more than 10 million Chinese tourists visiting these countries this year. Chinese travellers also enjoy revisiting countries with Canada, United States and Australia having the highest percentage of visitors returning for second or third time.
A new trend to note is Chinese tourists are now exploring more than one or two cities within a destination. In Japan, for example, the five places with the fastest growth in booking are Aomori, Kamakura, Iseko, Takayama and Tomiyama.
Most outbound travellers are from first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. However, with more direct air routes and the easing of visa policies there is a rapid growth in outbound tourists from second-tier cities like Guiyang, Changzhou, Nanchang, Kunming and Taiyuan. The annual growth rate of these cities has exceeded 250%, with Guiyang topping the list growing at a rate of 389%.
Another interesting finding in the report is the increasing popularity of parent-child travel, with the two-child policy contributing to this trend. From 2016 to 2018, the compound annual growth rate of parent-child travel trips and booking consumption were as high as 23% and 28%, respectively.
According to Ctrip’s outbound tourism product data, the top 20 parent-child travel destinations are mostly safe and developed countries close to China such as Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam or with direct flights like Cairns or Melbourne in Australia.
China’s two-child policy has contributed to the popularity of parent-child travel. (Image credit: ake1150sb/iStock-Getty Images)
Safety is also a concern for Chinese travellers due to frequent occurrences of events such as natural disasters. Insurance coverage for overseas travel insurance products has increased by nearly 40% annually
Ctrip said it is “the first to offer global travel SOS 24/7.” It revealed 55% SOS pleas came from parent-child travel groups, 68% were about lost goods, and Thailand is the top destination for SOS help.
“With the development of mass tourism Chinese tourists can be seen in every corner of the world. In this report you can see, whether it is inbound or outbound, China has the potential of sustaining such growth,” said Jane Sun, CEO of Ctrip
“Ctrip and MasterCard are the backbone in promoting the development of China’s tourism industry. We are both dedicated to better serve our Chinese customers so they can all venture out and see the world. Furthermore, we are actively promoting inbound tourism.”
Here are the detailed findings: Ctrip and Mastercard 2018 Chinese Travel Consumer Report
• Featured image credit: PRImageFactor/iStock-Getty Images
