About 53.6% of Chinese outbound tourists take shopping as primary objectives of free and easy trips in 2015, according to a research of Mafengwo and TouTiao. At least half of their travel budget will be spent on shopping.
China’s outbound tourism shopping market has reached 684.1 billion yuan (US$107.6 billion) in 2015 – far more than the market size of US$3.8 billion (estimated data by BigData) for China’s cross-border shopping market. Chinese tourists spend an average of 5,830 yuan (US$917.3) on outbound shopping, an increase of 16.3% compared to the same period last year.
Several factors have stimulated the growth of China outbound travel shopping:
- Popularity of Chinese online travel websites
- Easier visa applications, increasing international air flights
- Increased evaluation of RMB exchange rate
- Food safety concerns in China
Since China is the largest outbound travel origin country in the world, more countries have tended to loosen visa policy and add more Chinese-oriented facilities to attract more Chinese tourists. Simple sceneries couldn’t satisfy Chinese tourists’ needs.
Hotel
66.7% of Chinese tourists prefer to stay in hotels located in the central business district. Research of Mafengwo shows that one out of five Chinese travelers wishes to stay in hotels next to shopping malls.
Catering
Travelers shopping needs also promote the development of tourism destinations catering services. The report also shows that 67% travel shoppers at the same time want to enjoy delicious foods in 2015, far more food lovers compared with 2013 and 2014.
Shopping
With the increase of outbound Chinese tourists, more tourists’ shopping focus turned from buying luxury products to cosmetics, clothes, and daily necessities which are more close to their daily lives. Duty-free shops at airports always gather a large number of Chinese tourists.
China National Tourism Administration expects over 120 million trips traveling abroad in 2015 and total expenditure of Chinese outbound tourists will reach 1.23 trillion yuan (US$0.2 trillion).