Tech-savvy, younger and more affluent Chinese form a substantial part of a 20% growth in outbound mainland Chinese travelers, reaching 107 million last year.
But hoteliers need to cater to their needs with Chinese-speaking staff, Chinese-language tourist guides and dedicated websites, according to a study by Hotels.com, Travel Weekly UK reported.
The growing influence of the so-called “millennials” of ages 18 to 35 is identified in the research. About 59% of hoteliers surveyed have experienced an increase in Chinese guests ages 35 or under in the past year and they expect this trend to continue to grow.
The growth is especially strong in the Asia-Pacific region, where 78% of hoteliers reported an increase.
Another feature is the growing financial muscle of the top 10% of travelers from China in terms of overseas travel expenditure. Spending on average RMB13,800 (£1,467) per day, including accommodation, they parted with four times more money than that of the average traveler, who spent RMB 3,324 (£353).
However, this pales into insignificance when compared with the top 5% of spenders, who spent over six times more than the average at RMB20,896 (£2,221), indicating the emergence of a “super-luxury” class, the Chinese International Travel Monitor 2015 revealed.
Using the Internet to research and book overseas trips has become the norm for Chinese travelers, while the use of mobile phones for planning and booking their travel has skyrocketed.
Some 80% of Chinese travelers used an online device, including mobiles, desktops and laptops, to plan and book travel in the past 12 months, compared with only 53% in 2013.
Half of all Chinese international travelers now uses apps on their smartphones to plan and book trips, up from just 17% in the previous year.
The findings come from data about more than 3,000 Chinese international travelers and 1,500 Hotels.com accommodation partners globally with Hotels.com’s own data and other third-party research.
Asia Pacific vice president and managing director, Abhiram Chowdhry, said, “Hotels.com’s latest report reveals several themes emerging, not least the expanding influence of Chinese ‘millennial’ travelers, an increasingly more affluent Chinese traveler, and the explosion in the use of technology, in particular mobile, as part of the accommodation research and booking process.”
Many hoteliers have already recognized the benefits of free Wi-Fi as well as Chinese-language information and booking websites.
“Several themes emerge from the latest Hotels.com report, not least the expanding influence of Chinese ‘millennial’ travelers, an increasingly more affluent Chinese traveler, and the explosion in the use of technology, in particular mobile,” Chowdhry said.
