Not so popular are regular package deals, according to joint research by ForwardKeys and the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), which indicates China outbound bookings for the (European) summer are ahead 13.5%.
Exclusive visits to film locations, Michelin-star restaurants, ancient sites off the beaten track, and prestigious sporting events are the new must-dos for more adventurous and better-off Chinese tourists.
Not so popular are regular package deals, according to joint research by ForwardKeys and the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), which indicates China outbound bookings for the (European) summer are ahead 13.5%.
Researchers say customised travel is the big growth sector with a 300% growth in 2017, while this year there are currently more than 120,000 new orders a month, representing a market share of almost 15%.
Until recently, mass-market package tour groups from China boosted a destination’s visitor numbers, but their spending was limited to famous landmarks during high seasons. Ctrip says the trend is to make customised travel an “affordable luxury”, available to more Chinese.
Professor Dr Wolfgang Georg Arlt, COTRI founder, said, “Europe is a perfect example of destinations that have great potential to fulfil the demand for customised travel from China, owing to its rich history and broad cultural diversity.
“Visas, entry tickets and transport can be difficult for individual travellers to arrange by themselves and even more so in the face of language barriers.
“The time difference and varied ways of communicating can present complications to those travellers who are making their own arrangements. Accordingly, there is a strong demand for travel professionals to provide extensive travel services.”
ForwardKeys, which predicts future travel patterns by analysing 17 million booking transactions a day, notes that China bookings for Europe are ahead 10.5% this summer.
Europe – and particularly the UK – are the destinations most favoured by the new customised travellers from China.
ForwardKeys says the new customised Chinese travellers tend to be younger than average, “money-rich and time-poor”. They’re prepared to pay more than average for the chance, for instance, to stay in a glass igloo in Finland or propose to their partner in front of the Eiffel Tower.
And according to the Chinese travel services provider, Ctrip, it’s a sector in which expenditure is typically around US$400/ person/ day, that’s set to grow further.
ForwardKeys CEO and co-founder, Olivier Jager, concluded, “There is a bright future for organisations involved in Chinese travel to Europe. As a long-haul destination, Europe has the largest market share of Chinese outbound travel, receiving 9.3% of the market.
“Over six million Chinese citizens visited Europe as their first stop in 2017; and our figures show more growth this year.”