The number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad increased 19.5% YoY to 120 million in 2015 and the number was 13 times higher than that of 1998 according to China National Tourism Administration. Data of Feng Li & Fung Group Research Center showed that consumption of Chinese tourists totaled US$229 billion in 2015.
The number of Chinese visitors to Singapore increased by 20% to 2.07 million person-trips in 2015 and the number is expected to increase to 2.35 million this year. The growth rate will slow down according to HSBC.
In contrast, Chinese tourists visiting Japan and Thailand are expected to increase by 46.2% and 41.7% respectively in 2016 which will maintain a strong growth rate in visitor arrivals.
Singapore was not a good desirable place for Chinese tourist doing shopping compared with Japan and Korea. According to a research covering 300,000 Chinese social media users by HSBC, the United States (46%) was the most desirable tourism locations for Chinese people, followed by Japan (26%) and Hong Kong (21%). Only 5% of respondents chose Singapore.
Chinese tourists were more likely to buy luxury products, cosmetics, clothing and watches in those countries according to 6Estates. And they preferred to buy local brands, such as Charles & Keith in Singapore, Uniqlo in Japan, Sasa in Hong Kong, and Coach in the US.