The changing behaviors of Chinese travelers is a hot topic right now and it needs some attention.
Last month at the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific in Singapore, I moderated a discussion with Jihong He, chief strategy officer of H World International, and Melissa Ow, chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, and the prevailing topic was the shift in Chinese travel behavior post-pandemic.
HNN's Terence Baker reported further on these changes from World Travel Market in London.
The emerging trends are fascinating. They point to a few broad strokes:
- Despite low comps, the Chinese outbound market is currently the world's fastest-growing. David Goodger at Tourism Economics said at World Travel Market that Chinese outbound travel is 25% below 2019 levels. To me, that means it's only just begun and there's so much future opportunity.
- Many Chinese travelers are choosing to forego traditional large tour groups to tier-one destinations and instead seeking small-group or family trips to different spots, He and George said at HICAP. Singapore is a top destination, as are the ski regions of Japan.
- Experiences outside the hotel are top priority too. Chinese visitors are looking for authentic local restaurants. And they're increasingly seeking out sporting events. That pattern is particularly exciting for hoteliers in Saudi Arabia, said Alhasan Aldabbagh, president of Asia Pacific markets for the Saudi Tourism Authority at World Travel Market. Ever since Cristiano Ronaldo joined the Saudi Pro League, Chinese fans have been coming to watch him train.
But the real kicker, the fact that must cause U.S. hoteliers to sit up and take notice: This reemerging travel cohort is avoiding destinations with visa requirements, speakers said.
"The huge trend is in visa-free travel," said Sienna Parulis-Cook, director of marketing and communications at digital-marketing firm Dragon Trail International at Global Travel Market.
That takes U.S. destinations out of the running. Yes, the visa application process is smoother and the wait times anecdotally are less. But any travel-related headache is enough to take a destination out of the running these days, and when you add in political tensions, the decision to avoid the U.S. for leisure travel at least gets easier.
It's exciting to watch long-held travel patterns change almost in real time, and the U.S. has so many destinations that would be new to Asian travelers. Tough to see our industry miss out on that.
Have any insider knowledge on this? Email me, or find me on Twitter or LinkedIn.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or CoStar Group and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concern.