Chinese tourists spent generously throughout the world as they took the opportunity during the recent Lunar New Year holidays to travel.
Alipay tracked overseas spending and mobile payment behaviours of Chinese consumers during the 2019 holiday period from 4 – 10 February over 54 markets where Alipay is accepted, and released preliminary findings.
Here are the key findings:
- Both transaction values and volumes experienced robust growth
- Offline in-store transaction value surged 2.2 times year-on-year
- Europe dominated the top 10 countries in terms of average spend
- Top five countries that saw the highest growth on average spend were: Denmark (22.7 times), Spain (7.1 times), Philippines (5 times), Belgium (4.7 times) and Switzerland (3.4 times).
- Asian claimed nine out of top 10 countries by transaction volumes with the exception of Canada, which climbed to tenth spot due to increased adoption by local merchants and large retailers
- In terms of product and outlet categories, Chinese tourists shopped more frequently in department stores and luxury shops in Europe, while those who travelled to Asian countries favoured cosmeceutical shops and convenience stores.
- Average consumption growth through Alipay by travellers from third-and-fourth-tier cities in China outpaced those travellers from the top-tier cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou
- Middle-aged travellers, which are categorised into two groups – those who were born between 1960 – 1969 and then those born between 1970-1979, were the main driving force in outbound tourism and overseas consumption.
In Southeast Asia, Thailand and Malaysia were the top two countries in terms of transaction volume, with Singapore in third place. Singapore saw the average spending per Chinese tourist increase by 34 percent; the transaction volume also doubled.
This report followed an bigger report that was released last month by Alipay and Nielsen on the 2018 Trends for Mobile Payment in Chinese Outbound Tourism.
“Chinese mobile payment brands, represented by Alipay, have moved beyond the initial hurdles and are now experiencing vigorous growth. On the one hand, Chinese mobile payment providers are extending their service offerings for Chinese consumers; on the other hand, they are developing their businesses into overseas markets, where merchants, big or small, can benefit from adopting their services,” the report said.
According to the survey, 93% of Chinese tourists said they would likely increase their spending if mobile payment were more widely accepted, and 94% of them said they would be more willing to pay with their mobile phones if this payment method becomes more widely adopted by local merchants in overseas markets.
In 2018, 60% of Chinese tourists made payments with their mobiles in destinations such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Europe, United States and Australia.
Featured image credit: Getty Images
