Chinese travelers are booking more overseas trips for the National Day holiday period, buoyed by falling airfares, according to Fliggy, a major travel booking platform in China. Outbound travel from China is set to receive a much-anticipated jolt as “Golden Week” bookings show changes in where and why Chinese people are traveling.
Data from Fliggy, an Alibaba Group subsidiary, shows travelers are headed to many of their usual haunts in Asia-Pacific: Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea plus Australia, as well as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam in Southeast Asia. The United States also made the list, it said.
The fastest growth in bookings is for trips to places outside the region, such as Chile, Croatia, Belgium, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, and Sri Lanka, according to company data.
A report published on Sept. 23 by Goldman Sachs Equity Research estimates that China’s domestic travel volume will grow only an “unexciting 5-6%” compared to last year’s holiday period. However, the report notes that “outbound travel growth is likely to remain robust, +62% yoy” — or about 94% of 2019 levels.
Trip.com, China’s largest online travel agency, also shows a “significant shift” toward long-haul destinations for the upcoming Golden Week, with Australia, the United States, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain leading the list among long-haul bookings.
According to Trip.com, the average Golden Week booking this year is more than seven days. Those headed to Europe are staying up to twice as long, the company stated. While most Golden Week travelers are choosing mid-tier accommodations, growth for five-star hotels in Europe is almost three times higher than in Asia-Pacific, according to company data.
Bookings for long-haul trips are up for the upcoming Golden Week, with top spots including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, according to Trip.com.
ASEAN nations have discussed creating a Schengen-like visa to incentivize travelers to visit multiple countries while in the region. However, the visa has not materialized yet.
Travelers are planning trips further in advance, with visa applications being submitted, on average, 68 days before their trips, some 29 days earlier than last year, according to Trip.com.
Chinese tourists are seeking to celebrate Golden Week in off-the-beaten-path locations, especially in Asia and Europe, according to Trip.com’s data. More travelers are renting cars, booking cruises, and showing interest in outdoor activities like hiking, fishing, and sailing during the Golden Week period, a Fliggy report shows.
Live entertainment is a huge driver for Chinese travelers, like the rest of the world, according to Trip.com. More than 75% of Golden Week travelers visiting Asia-Pacific are millennials, who are booking trips to Hong Kong to see John Legend, as well as K-pop acts like Taemin and Taeyang.
Hong Kong is expected to welcome as many as 1.2 million mainland Chinese visitors during the coming Golden Week holiday, up 10% from last year, according to the city’s Travel Industry Council.
Despite continued turmoil in China’s economy, travelers are spending nearly 6% more than they did during last year’s Golden Week, according to Fliggy. HSBC Global Research stated in a report about Chinese online travel agencies that they expect traffic to grow strongly on lower air and hotel prices during the Golden Week. Outbound travel is picking up in lower-tier cities, with bookings from third-tier cities and below growing significantly, according to Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency.