China’s Inbound and Outbound Travel Rapidly Rebounding
A recent report titled “2023-2024 Cross-Border Travel Consumption Trend Study” released by the World Tourism Alliance in collaboration with Mastercard, Trip.com Group, and Alipay highlights that China’s inbound and outbound travel is quickly recovering. This summer, the number of outbound and inbound tourists from China and their spending are expected to reach new heights. As the world’s largest source and a major destination for international tourism, China continues to unleash its potential, injecting confidence and momentum into the global tourism market’s recovery.
Since the resumption of outbound travel last year, Chinese tourists have gradually expanded their travel from nearby destinations to more distant ones. Early this year, travel convenience to nearby destinations improved, with Southeast Asia and Japan seeing visitor numbers close to pre-pandemic levels. Among the top twenty most popular destinations for outbound Chinese tourists, 60% are in Asia. Thanks to visa-free policies, emerging destinations like the UAE have attracted more independent Chinese travelers, becoming a “dark horse” among outbound travel destinations. Additionally, the European market is gradually recovering, with the number of Chinese tourists visiting Spain, the UK, and Italy approaching previous levels.
Chinese tourists’ habits of “seeing the world” have evolved, placing greater emphasis on travel quality and experiences. Spending on dining, entertainment, and other experiential activities has increased, as tourists seek immersive travel experiences and are willing to deeply engage with local culture and customs. Nowadays, Chinese tourists’ travel pace and styles are becoming more diverse. According to Trip.com data, the proportion of independent travel in the first four months of this year remains high compared to 2019, with noticeable growth in independent travel to destinations like Indonesia, Cambodia, and the UAE.
Similarly, the first quarter of this year saw a positive recovery in China’s inbound tourism market. Visitor numbers from Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia continue to increase. In Europe, inbound tourism has strongly rebounded, with visitor numbers from France, Spain, and Italy approximately quadrupling compared to the same period last year. Visitors from the Middle East, the Americas, and Oceania are also on the rise. Although recovery speeds and trends vary across regions, overall, inbound tourism is steadily recovering. This positive growth is driven by inbound tourists’ demand, China’s favorable visa policies, and the continuous improvement in travel convenience.
Inbound tourists’ travel preferences in China have changed. They are staying longer and prefer in-depth travel experiences. Compared to 2019, there is a significant increase in tourists staying for more than a week. The trend of younger tourists is evident, with the proportion of visitors aged 20 to 35 increasing by 9% this year. This trend is seen across all source markets, with Thailand and the UK having the highest proportion of young tourists among the top ten source markets. Additionally, young inbound tourists are closely following travel trends on social media, with “diverse experiences” and “chasing hotspots” being key factors in choosing travel destinations. Traveling in China is also becoming more convenient, with mobile payments enhancing the ease of small and medium-sized transactions.
Summer Travel Market Shows Increase in Volume and Decrease in Prices | ‘Heat-Relief’ Related Searches Up by 55%
The summer travel season has begun. According to data from Qunar, the summer travel market this year shows an increase in volume and a decrease in prices. So far, the average price of domestic air tickets during the summer has decreased by 6% compared to the same period last year. The decline in prices for outbound travel is even more significant, with the average price of international air tickets down by 22% and international hotel prices per night down by 24%. In terms of overall costs, traveling to some Southeast Asian countries can be cheaper than visiting some domestic destinations.
According to Trip.com data, as of 15 July, the search volume for domestic hotels this summer has increased by about 20% compared to the same period in 2023. Despite a decline in some travel destinations, most popular tourist cities are still experiencing high hotel demand. Since July, searches related to heat relief have increased by 55% month-on-month. Heat-relief activities such as visits to ocean parks, night tours, islands, and water activities are also gaining popularity, with ocean park orders up by 95% month-on-month. Summer trips focusing on heat relief and family travel dominate the market. As of 16 July, bookings for family trips and family-friendly hotels have increased by 45% and 25% month-on-month, respectively, with spending levels surpassing those of last year.
Boosted by favorable visa policies, inbound tourism is experiencing strong growth this year. The split between outbound travel and domestic travel to lower-tier cities and counties has led to slower growth in traditional travel destinations. Meanwhile, hotel companies are accelerating their expansion into emerging travel markets, focusing on North China, South China, and Southwest China.
At the same time, summer cultural and tourism market consumption is peaking. According to Meituan data, the national cultural and tourism consumption scale has increased by more than 20% in the past two weeks. The top 10 destinations are Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Changsha, and Wuhan. “Spontaneous trips” have become the mainstream travel style, with more users opting for “no advance booking, immediate travel.” Users in Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Guangzhou show the highest travel enthusiasm.
Hong Kong Summer Tourists Head North Over Half Visit Greater Bay Area Cities
On 15 July, Tongcheng Travel released the “2024 Summer Travel Trend Report for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area,” analyzing this summer’s travel trends among residents of the Greater Bay Area. Data from the Tongcheng Travel platform and its inbound travel service platform, HopeGoo, show that this summer, there is a strong demand for Hong Kong residents to travel to mainland China for holidays. Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Haikou, and Shanghai are the top destinations for Hong Kong residents, with Shenzhen and Guangzhou, core cities in the Greater Bay Area, receiving over half of the visitors from Hong Kong. Summer travel for Hong Kong residents primarily focuses on leisure vacations and high-value cultural tourism consumption. The cultural and tourism market in the Greater Bay Area is booming, with Guangzhou Zoo attracting significant crowds and Hong Kong Disneyland seeing the highest increase in booking popularity.
China’s Civil Aviation Market Expected to Maintain Peak Season Trends This Summer
On 12 July, Xu Qing, Deputy Director of the Transport Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, announced at a press conference that the 2024 summer travel season has officially started. During this period, China’s civil aviation market is expected to maintain peak season trends, with total passenger transport expected to reach 133 million, averaging 2.15 million passengers per day, a moderate 5% increase compared to the same period in 2023. This summer will also continue to see peak seasons for international travel and study abroad travel.
Xu Qing stated that in the second quarter, the number of scheduled passenger flights to countries with visa-free policies such as Malaysia, Spain, Hungary, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and Kazakhstan increased by more than 20%. Additionally, since the second quarter, Chinese and foreign airlines have opened or resumed passenger routes to Bahrain, Cuba, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and Ireland, further enhancing China’s international route network.
Looking at flight arrangements by Chinese and foreign airlines, popular international routes during the summer travel season will continue to focus on traditional tourist markets in nearby countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries. The number of flights to France has significantly increased due to major events like the Olympics. Additionally, airlines have increased passenger flights on routes to countries like Denmark, Hungary, and Greece.
Hong Kong
21 Million Tourists Visited Hong Kong in the first half of 2024
According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), from January to June this year, Hong Kong recorded about 21 million tourist arrivals, a year-on-year increase of 64%, with an average daily visitor volume of 116,000. This can be explained by the recovery of outbound travel from China. For the first half of this year, nearly 16.15 million mainland Chinese tourists visited Hong Kong, a 60% year-on-year increase. Non-mainland tourist numbers were 5 million, an 80% year-on-year increase. Among all visitors to Hong Kong, overnight visitors accounted for 50%, with an average stay of 3.2 nights.
Macau
A similar story in Macau where over 16 million tourists visited Macau in H1 2024.
On 16 July, the Macau Government Tourism Office reported that from January to June 2024, Macau welcomed approximately 16.729 million tourists, averaging nearly 92,000 per day, a 43.6% increase compared to the same period in 2023, and recovering to 82.5% of the 2019 level. International tourist numbers for the first half of the year reached nearly 1.17 million, a year-on-year increase of 146.4%, recovering to 67.2% of the 2019 level.
Statistics show that over half of the average spending by mainland Chinese tourists in Macau (excluding gambling) is on shopping. The increase in duty-free allowances for visitors to China has positively impacted Macau’s tourism revenue.