They don’t care about how much they spend and they love Europe, especially France — they are the Chinese tourists. 2018 celebrates the year of the dog but also the year of Chinese tourism!
Indeed, the year of China-European Union tourism has been unveiled last 19 January in Venice. It aims to promote Chinese tourism in Europe and maintain the touristic cooperation between the European Union and China.
More and more Chinese tourists by 2020
In 2017, more than 12,4 million Chinese traveled to Europe, and nearly the double is expected in 2 years — by 2020, there should be 220 million Chinese tourists traveling around the world! Tourism and destination marketing experts: it is high time to fawn upon this clientele.
Chinese tourism — 6 travels trends
- Europe: Chinese tourists’ favourite continent
Europe is the third touristic destination in the world for the Chinese travelers, following Asia and Oceania. France is the first European destination by welcoming 24,6% of Chinese tourists, followed by Germany (15.6%), Switzerland (9.2%) and Spain (8.7%), according to Alliance 46.2 study.
- Leisure before anything else
80% of Chinese tourists come for leisure, 20% for business.
- Organised stays
They mostly travel in groups to discover Europe (3-4 countries per stays) even if individual travels tend to increase.
- High travel budget
With an average basket of €3,400, Chinese tourists are the biggest spendthrifts of the world. The majority of their budget is dedicate to shopping (37%), accommodation (18%), catering (18%) and long haul transport (17%).
- Young and urban
The majority of Chinese travelers going to Europe is young and urban (54% of them are between 26 and 35 years old). To discover more about the young travelers’ travel habits, have a look at our previous article!
- Ultra-connected
Chinese tourists are ultra-connected — China totalises 688 million Internet users, 600 million of whom being on mobile! That is to say 90% of the Internet users, namely 40% of the population… Discover our article about the connected travelers’ essential tool: smartphone!
In the space of six years, WeChat, which was only an instant messaging for smartphone, has become the digital « Swiss army knife » of 900 million Chinese. Thanks to this app, China turned to mobile payment. WeChat just arrived in Europe and forms a godsend for tourism experts since mobile advertising represents an important vector to increase your visibility and attract these prestigious Chinese tourists.
