CHINA/INTERNATIONAL. The number of Chinese citizens travelling overseas is projected to reach 228 million annually by 2030, compared to 170 million in 2019, according to a new report titled ‘China Outbound Tourism Handbook 2023: 88 Practical Ways to Prepare for the New Wave of Chinese Visitors’.
It is co-written by China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) Founder Wolfgang Georg Arlt and Gary Bowerman, Director of Check-in Asia, Founder of Asia Travel Re:Set and a media commentator on Asian travel and consumer trends.
Citing information from the handbook, COTRI said outbound tourist volumes from China are forecast to hit the annual 200-million mark in 2028. They reached 100 million in 2014.
The report highlights the factors that spurred the development of the first 25 years of outbound tourism in China since 1997. It also evaluates the tourism outlook up to 2030.
The developmental drivers identified by the handbook range from family visits to leisure trips, as well as adventure travel and weddings and honeymoons. It also covered consumer engagement strategies through social commerce, mixed reality and metaverse marketing, virtual idols and livestreaming.
The latest developments in travel retail are also discussed in the handbook. “Consumer trends in China’s fast-growing lower-tier cities are far from homogenous, and distinctive patterns of outbound travel will emerge from each one,” said the authors.
The report underlined the eagerness among Chinese travellers to spend on shopping. “Quality for money will be more important than before the pandemic. For a desirable travel product customised in the right way for the right market segment, Chinese visitors are still willing to pay premium prices,” said the report.
As China resumes overseas group tours, the handbook also notes that airports should prepare for the predicted influx of Chinese travellers. “Some airports carefully planned for the regrowth of travel and a return of Chinese travellers. Other airports are less primed. This will be carefully noted by Chinese tourists, who research their trip routes in minute detail,” it said.
The handbook also highlights the changes within China in the last three years, and the various impacts of the zero-Covid policy in the country on travellers and the travel industry. Other topics also covered in the publication are evolving trends in travel, technology, fashion, branding, retail, marketing and lifestyle in China during the pandemic.
