The incoming Spring Festival could be a peak of outbound tourism in China

The approaching Spring Festival is going to be another hot season for Chinese tourists to travel abroad. According to China Daily, the average travel expenses of the individual Chinese tourist may reach RMB 10,000 (EUR 1,400) this year, with some tourists even spending much more for better travel experiences.

Due to these high travel expenses, Chinese tourists are definitely the must-have customers for all the major travel destinations in the world. China has long surpassed the United States as the biggest outbound tourism spender of the world, which means that Chinese tourists are more willing to pay more than tourists from other countries. It can also be of great significance that Chinese tourists are travelling abroad in larger numbers. With a larger number and the willingness as well as the capacity to spend more, Chinese tourists are able to considerably raise the tourism revenue of the travel destinations.

According to the online tourism service provider Ctrip, most of the expenses of Chinese outbound tourists go to traffic, accommodations, tour guide, visa application, etc. On the other hand, tourists taking part in package tours generally pay more than the individual travelers. However, the expenses of individual travelers are more flexible. They would love to pay for extra and customized services, for example watching whales in Hawaii or taking a hot air balloon ride in New Zealand.

In response to the increasing number of tourists who want to customize their trips, booking all the services with mobile apps have become popular in China this year. This greatly facilitates the travelers who wishes to avoid the boredom of booking all the services in a tourism office and allows them to organize their trips with more freedom, because not only the entire trip, but also different services like renting a car can now be ordered separately online.

Apart from the traditional package tours and individual travelling, other travel forms like family tours and honeymoon tours have also become important parts of the market. Comparing with ordinary tourists, these travelers are more inclined to pay more for their trip in the way of booking better hotels, reserving better restaurants, etc. Furthermore, some affluent travelers have put their eyes on some exotic travel destinations. Antarctica, for example, is now a popular destination for the new Chinese rich class. This year, there are even tourists who pay RMB 300,000 (EUR 42,000) to visit Antarctica.

But for most tourists who value the price-performance more, destinations which are not far away from China are a better option. For the incoming Spring Festival, Thailand, Japan and Korea are the most popular overseas travel destinations for Chinese tourists.

Source: China Daily

Photo: flickr