People, Travel
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Less Shopping, More Eating for Chinese Tourists

Less Shopping, More Eating for Chinese Tourists
Less Shopping, More Eating for Chinese Tourists

The latest Hotels.com survey of Chinese travelers shows they spend more than a quarter of their income on overseas trips, but they're shopping less and splashing out more on dining and sightseeing.

New Zealand was rated seventh among the top 10 destinations Chinese tourists want to visit in the next 12 months, along with Japan, Singapore, Thailand and the UK, Stuff.co.nz reported.

The Chinese International Travel Monitor is based on web-based interviews with 3,000 Chinese travelers and almost 4,000 accommodation providers globally, including 74 in New Zealand.

The report said younger travelers born in the 1980s and 90s devoted more than a third of their income to traveling abroad and this reflected the importance of travel as a means of self expression and relaxation.

But the survey also revealed that the Chinese obsession with holiday shopping has waned and it is no longer the prime reason for travel. Instead, there is much more focus on relaxing, exploring local culture, dining and sightseeing.

Spending on the latter is up 11%, while interest in shopping has dropped by 35%.

Group travel has taken a dive and only 12% of those born after 1960 planned a group tour in the coming year.

Long haul is on the up, according to the report, which said "new and distant are in, familiar and nearby are out".

Worsening air pollution in China had fuelled the desire for eco tours and visits to pristine natural environments and island destinations—such as New Zealand—and they made up a third of all outbound travel from China last year.

 

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