70% rural residents in China would like to go traveling and Beijing is the first choice for them according to China Tourism Industry Report in 2014 released by China Tourism Academy.
This research involved more than 2,000 rural families from 12 provinces and cites (Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Zhejiang, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Gansu, Sichun, Yunan, Guangxi and so on) in China. The research focused on rural residents’ willingness, motivation and preference to travel, willingness to spend and travel experience.
The latest data shows Chinese rural residents had strong willingness to go traveling while the actual number of rural travelers are low in 2014. Rural residents who went traveling once accounted for 21.5% of all the respondents. The top 10 destinations for rural resident travelers were Beijing, Shanghai, Yunan, Hangzhou, Guilin, Xi’an, Tibet, Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
The report shows 66.5% Chinese rural residents are worrying about safety issues when traveling, which is their top concern.
Besides, 73.8% respondents were not satisfied with tourism attractions. Respondents who were satisfied very much and satisfied accounted for only 0.3% and 1.5% respectively. In terms of tickets of attractions, 29% respondents felt satisfied while 42.3% considered it acceptable which indicates there are great opportunities in developing rural resident travelers in China.
In China’s rural areas, over 47 million families have access to broadband with 177 million Internet users. Every household on average owns two mobile phones in rural areas. It is believed that online travel mobile apps have large market in rural areas in China. Check out China top 6 online travel mobile apps here.
Also read: Understanding Chinese Luxury Travelers
