The global travel industry has been upended for good and for bad over the last 5-7 years with the massive growth of Chinese tourists. In some places they bring much needed revenue, in others its only incremental gains, while there are some destinations which complain that they have been too successful in attracting Chinese dollars. But Chinese tourists matter to local, regional and global economies.

It’s interesting to note that Chinese tourists are very different than Japanese or Americans. Chinese travellers have their own unique wants and desires and they tend to enjoy different types of vacations than their European counterparts. They also tend to spend money differently than their Asian neighbours. 

Companies and regions which want to attract and properly serve the next wave of Chinese travelers need to understand the profiles of Chinese tourists and the key reasons that they travel. Likewise it is important understand traveler flows, spending patterns, their main destination markets and the current and future opportunities for tourism businesses seeking to tap into the Chinese outbound travel market.

Here are a few statistics to show why Chinese tourists matter:

• Chinese travelers typically choose city breaks (74%) and sun and beach holidays (70%) as their typical holiday destinations.

• Leisure acted as the main purpose for both domestic (57.5%) and outbound travel (69.2%) in 2018.

• Transport accounted for the largest amount of domestic expenditure totalling US$249bn in 2018.

• Outbound expenditure is predicted to reach US375bn in 2022 at a CAGR of 11.3% and retail expenditure takes up the largest part, predicted to grow to US$115bn in 2022.