Chinese travellers are travelling more, spending more, and are more prone to using mobile payment when travelling.
These are the key findings of the latest of many reports on outbound Chinese travelling trends. According to the Outbound Chinese Tourism and Consumption Trends: 2017 Survey, by Nielsen and Alipay, a growing number of Chinese tourists expect to utilise mobile payment methods while travelling overseas.
According to the China National Tourism Administration, Chinese tourists made 131 million overseas trips in 2017, an increase of 7% from 2016. Amongst these, Chinese tourists continue to increase spending during their trips. Data from the International Association of Tour Managers shows that overseas travel spending by Chinese tourists reached US$261.1 billion in 2016, an increase of 4.5% year-on-year, and ranked first worldwide.
Among other findings:
- On average, Chinese tourists surveyed visited 2.1 countries or regions in 2016-2017 and are expected to visit an average of 2.8 in 2018. Chinese tourists exhibit stronger purchasing power than non-Chinese tourists, with the former spending an average of US$762 per person on shopping alone based on their most recent trip. Non-Chinese tourists spent an average of US$486.
- 65% of Chinese tourists used mobile payment platforms during overseas travels, more than six times in comparison to non-Chinese tourists (11%). In contrast to the last two years, Chinese tourists’ use of mobile payment during overseas trips saw greater usage increase compared to other payment methods. Chinese tourists primarily use mobile payments for shopping, dining and visits to tourist attractionswhen traveling overseas.
- Over 90% of Chinese tourists would consider using mobile payments when traveling overseas if more overseas merchants accept it in the future. Over 90% might purchase more goods or services at certain overseas merchants if they are able to accept mobile payment.
- The habit of using mobile payments in China, convenience of use, and additional discounts gained by using such platforms are key factors for Chinese travellers to use mobile payment overseas, while limited merchant coverage overseas is cited as the biggest obstacle.
- Chinese tourists’ favoured goods to purchase while shopping overseas is skin care and beauty products, followed by local specialties. In terms of shopping locations, 61% of Chinese tourists prefer to shop at duty free shops.
- While shopping was the most common expense for which Alipay was used, Chinese tourists also utilised it to pay for sightseeing, accommodations, dining, transportation and recreation.
