Over the last decade, the Chinese tourism industry has been growing constantly. According to Hong Kong-based Giovanni Angelini, Advisor & Consultant at Angelini Hospitality, the huge market is beginning to mature.
The Chinese economic growth is slugging behind compared to the growth rate in the last decade. However, Chinese travel trade is still robust and growing every year. This is because it is supported by investments in new airports, improvement in general infrastructure and logistics as well as improvements in air space management, airlines and ports. Another factor that is boosting the growth of Chinese travel industry is the increased spending power and disposable income of the Chinese people.
Today, China is rapidly progressing towards its target of becoming a country with both economic and cultural powers. As a result, it is making a significant impact in the tourism industry as well as the global travel pattern. This is increasing the number of tourists both local and international who are visiting different parts of China to obtain goods and to learn the Chinese culture. This as a result has dramatically improved the travel industry.
In China, traveling is becoming a human right. It is by far the preferred leisure pursuit for both the wealth and the middle class. In addition, the rapid growth of the luxury markets in Asia and China are significantly sending ripples within the travel and tourism industry. Increasing work and life pressure together with food safety and pollution concerns are forcing the Chinese people to increase attention to health related issues, become more attentive to their diet, increase the frequency of the check-ups , change the overall feel and look of their leisure time and participate in more sports activities.
When talking about Chinese tourism we are referring to approximately 100 million outbound tourists in 2014, a number that is projected to increase to 200 million by the end of 2020. What have made this number to continue increasing year after year is the Chinese culture and the wealth within the country. From the Hurun report, regional destinations that are frequently visited by leisure travelers include Hangzhou, Xinjang, Beijing, Macao, Tibet, Yunnam, Hainan, and Hong Kong.
Group travelers within and outside China have two things in mind: shopping and sightseeing. However, due to the increasing number of people traveling in and outside China, gambling will remain one of the key reasons for external travelling.
Gifting remains very important for Chinese travelers. Most of the Chinese travelers are moving outside the country in the search for electronics, health products, watches, expensive wines and spirits, luxury fashion items and jewelry that are not produced in China. The reason why the spending of Chinese tourism is dropping constantly compared to the previous years is because they are travelling to more destinations and they have become smart shoppers when it comes to comparing price and value. International and local tourists are today depending on online social media, TV news and newspapers to learn more about certain products in certain destinations within and outside China.
Hotel industry in China has recovered from global recession more quickly than the global economic sector. This is mostly because of the new sources of business and market from readymade products from developing countries, with China leading the way. With the improvement of the travel and tourism industry, China is experiencing an oversupply of deluxe hotels in most destinations. This has mostly been the result of the government cutting down the entertainment spending and the increasing growth of many new multi-purpose developments.