Reference News website reported on May 9th according to a report from Bloomberg News website on May 8th, for decades, in Kyoto, Paris or Venice, Chinese tourists following guides and visiting shops selling everything from Eiffel Tower trinkets to Hermès Birkin bags worth over ten thousand US dollars can be seen everywhere.
Today, more Chinese vacationers are turning to independent travel, especially enthusiastic about adventure and experience. Social platforms are filled with photos and videos of Chinese tourists hunting in the wilds of Tanzania and swimming among the ice floes in Japan. Wensa Hu (name transliteration), a 37-year-old modeling agent, used to go on shopping trips abroad and spend lavishly, but during her recent trip to New Zealand, she chose hiking, rabbit hunting, and sea fishing instead. She said, "Luxury handbags depreciate. I feel like I need to enjoy life."
Reportedly, although the desire for experiential vacations is not unique to Chinese tourists, China is the world's largest outbound tourism market, and these changing preferences are having a ripple effect across the industry. According to data from the World Travel & Tourism Council and governments, last year, 146 million Chinese tourists spent 1.6 trillion RMB on overseas travel. This year, their travel spending is expected to surpass the pre-pandemic level of 2019.
Klook, a Hong Kong-based travel booking service provider, found in a survey that 70% of tourists allocate at least one-third of their budget to experiential projects. To serve these tourists, the company has added experiences such as desert camping in Dubai and kendo experience in Tokyo. Subramaniam Bharat, CEO of market research firm Hashtag Marketing, said, "More Chinese people are looking for unique and distinctive experiences. It's a very profound transformation."
It was pointed out that in Vietnam, zero-commission tour groups targeting Chinese tourists have virtually disappeared. A guide in Iceland said that group tours by bus for Chinese tourists are becoming less common, and younger travelers now choose to rent cars and drive themselves, planning their own itineraries for hot spring baths or viewing the Northern Lights. Pacific Travel, a New Zealand-based travel agency, said that a few years ago, tours with 20 or more people accounted for 85% of its Chinese business, but now this proportion has dropped to less than 15%. Helen Dai (name transliteration), head of the agency's Chinese division, said that these new tourists—most of whom are small groups composed of close friends or family members—"prefer a relaxed itinerary."
After seeing videos of Chinese tourists traveling in the jungles near the west coast of Sumatra posted on Xiaohongshu, Elu Mamak, an Indonesian tour guide, saw a surge in business from China. He is taking a Chinese class to better serve Chinese tourists. Mamak said, "They want to avoid uniform travel. This will become a new trend." (Translated by Cao Weiguo)
The "AIDA Magic" cruise ship berthed at the Qingdao International Cruise Home Port pier (drone photo taken on April 6th). The cruise ship will depart from the Qingdao International Cruise Home Port to start an international cruise journey to Jeju, South Korea, and Fukuoka, Japan. (Xinhua News Agency)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7502270362923647524/
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