TORONTO — Outbound Chinese travel grew to 107 million in 2014, with the younger, tech-savvy and affluent groups leading the surge, according to Hotels.com’s latest study, “Chinese International Travel Monitor 2015.”
“The latest Hotels.com report reveals several themes emerging, not least, the expanding influence of Chinese millennial travellers, an increasingly more affluent Chinese traveller, and the explosion in the use of technology, in particular, mobile, as part of the accommodation research and booking process,” said Abhiram Chowdhry, VP and managing director, Asia Pacific for Hotels.com. “Many hoteliers have already recognized the benefits of free Wi-Fi as well as Chinese-language information and booking websites.”
Visitors are spending more on their travel and accommodations, up to US$2,225 per day — four times the amount the average traveller spends, which is US$536 per day. The emergence of a “super-luxury” class is also apparent in Hotels.com’s findings, which revealed that the top five per cent of spenders paid six times more than the average spender (US$3,368).
The opportunity for mobile was highlighted in the study, as half of all Chinese international travellers now use apps on their smartphones to plan and book trips, up from 17 per cent the year prior. During the past 12 months, 80 per cent of Chinese travellers have used an online device including mobile, desktop and laptop to plan and book travel, compared with only 53 per cent last year.
According to the number of rooms booked on the Hotels.com Chinese website in 2014, the top three countries Chinese travellers visited were the U.S., Thailand and Hong Kong.
