On the occasion of the Chinese New Year, next 5th of February, and after analyzing the Chinese tourism in the world, here’s an article painting the Chinese tourists’ portrait.

In this beginning of 2019, China counts 1.4 billion inhabitants, namely 4 times more than the USA and 21 times more than the UK. It is also the 3rd biggest country in the world, and it reflects its diversity: 24 Chinese ethnicities and around 200 spoken languages. Grasping the Chinese tourists therefore seems complicated, as they were 220 million in 2018 to have traveled the world. However, we observe some common travel trends, concerning their touristic tastes and behavior.

So who are these Chinese tourists and how to target and reach them in your tourism and marketing strategy? PXCom paints their portrait for you!

Who are the Chinese tourists?

The Chinese tourists represent a part of the higher-middle class and the upper class, namely 18% of the Chinese population, or 250 million Chinese. They are on average 34 years old and usually prepare their trip in a Chinese travel agency.

A distinctive characteristic of the Chinese tourist is that he often travels in group. You must remember that, particularly if you’re a transport or accommodation professional.

The behavior of the Chinese tourists

Their favorite destinations are mainly nearby countries: South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand. Then, Europe attracts them the most — with 24.6% of the market shares for France, 15.6% for Germany, 9.2% for Switzerland and 8.7% for Spain.

In general, they don’t speak any other language than Mandarin or Cantonese, not even English. This may require the addition of the Chinese in your website or paper guides to better reach them.

The average budget of the Chinese tourists — transport, accommodation and expenses included — is about $4000. They usually spend a small amount of money on hotel or restaurants, but a huge amount of money on shopping! They rarely travel, which is why they enjoy their travel the most to buy a lot, and therefore explains the great portion of their budget dedicated to shopping (16%).

The Chinese tourist is hyperconnected — he shares his photos on social medias, use the Internet to locate himself and find good places. He doesn’t want to turn off his phone while traveling.

As for the leisures, the new Chinese tourist is taking away from the clichés we may have about him. Indeed, he tends to be more interested in the cultural heritage of the countries he visits — museums, art galleries… — and therefore dedicates an increasing part of his budget to it. Moreover, this new tourist becomes an adventurer and progressively drops his sedentary side.

How to reach the Chinese tourists

If we have to sum up the Chinese tourists’ characteristics, here’s what you must remember: they are hyperconnected, mostly don’t speak any other languages than Mandarin (or Cantonese for the Southern Chinese), and they often travel in group.

To better reach them and attract them to your business, here what you must do:

• Offer free wifi in your place
• Include Chinese in your website or paper guides
• Offer mobile payment (AliPay, WeChat Pay…)
• Offer packages including group transports solutions to facilitate and make their trips profitable (buses, City Tours…)

PXCom: the solutions to promote your business to the Chinese tourists during their flight

The Chinese tourists are often appealed by Europe and its cultural and patrimonial diversity. As they are hyperconnected, they favor the use of the digital to look for touristic activities and places to visit, especially their best travel comrade: the smartphone. Advertising to these travelers during their flight seem like an efficient solution to promote your business.

PXCom has the solution for you! We offer various format (banner, video, pre-roll…) to promote your business to the passengers on their seat-back screens or phone with the onboard wifi. This solution allows you to precisely target these travelers at the destination(s) you want.

Thanks to PXCom, these travelers can visit your ministe, created by our team, during their flight and directly book an activity in your establishment from their seat! And this works for all kind of companies in the tourism industry:  restaurants, hotels, museums, tour-operators…

So don’t wait any longer and boost your company with PXCom!

Arnaud Abadie

Sources:

http://dmb-shanghai.com/travelling/le-profil-du-touriste-chinois-et-comment-le-capter/

https://www.leslovetrotteurs.com/touristes-chinois-nos-5-lecons-apprendre-a-aimer/

http://maxity.fr/les-voyageurs-fit-aux-revenus-confortables-sont-en-hausse-a-paris/

http://talentstravel.com/2017/profil-des-touristes-chinois-caracteristiques-sociodemographiques