Alibaba’s Fliggy has recently released the 2018 Travel Report, analyzing the new trends and changes in the China travel market based on travel and shopping data collected from over 600 million consumers in Alibaba’s ecosystem.
The demand of outbound tourism has been increasingly growing, thanks to improving incomes and travel knowledge of Chinese consumers. The report shows that the travel market maintained steady growth in 2018. The increase in the number of outbound Chinese travelers was 20% higher than that of domestic travelers YoY.
Chinese people traveled to 192 countries and regions worldwide in 2018 and the choice of destinations was increasingly personalized. Nearly 2,000 tourists booked the Antarctic tours on Fliggy, and China has become the second largest traveler source market to the Antarctic.
The average spending of Chinese travelers was up by 9% year-on-year, and the spending has been diversifying into categories such as watching sport events, delicacies and outdoor activities.
The Fliggy report highlighted that the number of Chinese visitors to Russia during the 2018 FIFA World Cup from June 14 to July 15 doubled compared to the same period of the year before. The bookings for experiences such as dining, spa and reflexology also doubled during the tournament period. The number of people who booked snow tours grew by 50%, indicating a trend that instead of following traditional tour groups, Chinese travelers increasingly prefer high-quality travel experiences.
Gen Z travelers, the generation born in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, have become a key drivers of travel consumption. The number of Gen Z travelers jumped by 42%. The rate of increase of outbound travelers from this age group was 39% higher than that of domestic travelers. The per capita consumption of this group grew 30% and they ranked top among all age groups.
On the other hand, fueled by convenient visa policy and additional international flights, people from the third- and fourth-tier cities showed strong desire to travel abroad. The increase in the number of travelers who made overseas trips was 31% higher than that to domestic cities.
