Chinese people have been traveling in greater numbers. The latest development in Chinese Economy has impacted its dynamic growth and now China is an important source market for Asian as well as European and American countries. Chinese travelers are a welcome boost to the tourism statistics of many countries.
Why are Chinese travelers so important? Due to the rise in disposable incomes and increase in direct flight lines the Chinese have risen as the key player in world tourism economy. China recently displaced USA in the list of the most international travels by spending more than $164.8 billion. That number is expected to reach $422 billion by the year 2020 that is equal to GDP of some developed countries.
That count is even going to increase, according to Oxford Economics when more that 61 million Chinese will be able to afford foreign trips by 2023. There are also some interesting facts about Chinese travelers revealed in a survey. Nine out of ten Chinese now have better means and are hoping to travel more than 5 years ago. According to a report by the UNWTO, the tourist spending by China has seen double-digit growth each year after 2004.
The way the Chinese travel has changed a lot in recent times. Earlier Chinese used to travel in groups and used to take bus tours as it was the most comfortable way for them to get Visa. But this scenario has completely changed now, according to a leading Marketing Agency of China now the Chinese travelers are branching out in a surprisingly different way.
More than 70% Chinese travelers who travel internationally plan and travel independently which is a very surprising ratio seeing the past record. There is a completely new generation who love to travel and explore the world.
This has also resulted in new travel behavior when earlier Chinese used to do a lot of shopping because of the difference in price, quality, design and reliability of product but now they love to experience more, spending more on exploring new places of the country they visit.
According to a Travel Magazine of Hawaii, “Hawaii is turning out to be Chinese Hawaii in recent years. Hawaii is flooded with Chinese travelers as they love the clean air of Hawaii, love the beaches and even love their prestige because of which even if they don’t know how to play Golf, they love to play it. They spend on an average $407 per day, which is more than travelers from any other country.”
There are many reasons behind this sudden boom in Chinese travelers spending millions on their trips. China is going to host 2022 Winter Olympics, that’s why the Chinese government is trying to develop the interest as well as encourage its citizens to get involved in sports which are to be played in that. American and European countries are seeing this as an opportunity to attract more and more Chinese travelers in their country by encouraging the local winter sports. Canada is even running non-stop flights between Beijing and Calgary to attract sports enthusiasts.
Adoption of “Western” Travel habits: Chinese love to experience the authenticity of nature. They love to live like locals and this has motivated tours and activity operators to develop more matured travel market. This has really given a boom to travel industry of countries like India and Sri Lanka.
More than 49% percent of Chinese travelers have adopted traveling as a process for self-improvement and other 51% say it has grown as a social currency. This clearly depicts they are using travelling as a means to connect and strengthen the emotional bond and a process to enrich their life experience.
Another reason for the growth in travels is the availability of new and better plans and information has made the people believe that there are many travel options available to them. Now they get more useful and relevant information so that they can travel in a much more economical way than earlier.