· Latest Hotels.com™ Chinese International Travel Monitor has diverged Chinese International travellers into five unique travel personas– Detailed Explorers, Cautious Connectors, Experience Seekers, Indulgers and Basic Pleasure Seekers
· India is one of the top destinations for the Chinese millennials personas - Experience Seekers, Indulgers and Basic Pleasure Seekers
· India ranked 3rd as a popular destination for Local Culture Exploration, and 4th as a popular destination for Adventure by Chinese travellers
· Hotels.com™ predicts Chinese millennials spend 27 percent of their income on travel
· Over 62 percent of bookings were made via mobile, with booking via mobile up 10 percent vis-à-vis the previous year
Chandigarh, 19th July, 2016: When you think of Chinese travellers, do you conjure up images of group bus tours? If so, it’s time to update your perceptions of one of the world’s largest and most economically valuable travel groups.
As Chinese international travellers grow in affluence and sophistication, Hotels.com™has diverged them into five unique travel personas in their fifth annual Chinese International Travel Monitor. The survey used Ipsos, a world leader in market research, which in May 2016 surveyed 3,000 Chinese travelers. To complement this data with opinions of hoteliers, Hotels.com carried out a global survey of 5,800 accommodation partners.
The travel personas highlight the varying travel styles and behaviours whilst identifying the rise of young, independent and ambitious millennial travellers.
Hotels.com Chinese international traveller personas
Detailed explorers (25%)
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Born in the 60s and 70s, they are innovative and optimistic, like to learn and explore and to plan their trips down to the last detail.
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Cautious connectors (25%)
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Also born in the 60s and 70s. They come from lower-tier cities and responsible family people and travel to bond with loved ones. They prefer safe, family-friendly hotels.
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Experience seekers (17%)
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Tend to be born in the 80s and 90s and from top-tier cities, they like stylish hotels and professional advice on local cultural activities. They travel to enrich their experience, being independent and ambitious.
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Indulgers (12%)
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Most likely born in the 80s, they travel to indulge themselves and to demonstrate their power. They tend to stay at higher-star hotels and go on adventurous local tours.
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Basic pleasure seekers (21%)
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Millennials born in the 90s and unlike other groups, more of them are women than men. They are aesthetically minded and travel for non-material enjoyment, seeking value-for-money accommodation.
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Hotels.com predicts millennials as the fastest growing segment with the group spending over a quarter (27 percent) of their income on international travel, based on survey data.From the above identified travel personas by Hotels.com, India is one of the top destinations for Chinese millennials that fall in the classification of Experience Seekers, Indulgers and Basic Pleasure Seekers.
Abhiram Chowdhry, Vice President and Managing Director Asia Pacific for the Hotels.com brand said:“The personas should encourage the market to think about Chinese travellers in a new light: “Perceptions of Chinese travellers as group bus tour groups wanting only Chinese breakfasts and Mandarin translations are out dated. Our research shows that Chinese travellers are more diverse and sophisticated than ever before”.
Top 10 destinations Chinese travellers say they would like to visit in the next 12 months
The findings revealed Australia, Japan and Hong Kong are the top three destinations on Chinese travellers wish lists.
Ranking
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Destinations
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Percentage
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1
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Australia
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15%
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2
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Japan
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13%
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3
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Hong Kong
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11%
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4
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South Korea
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7%
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5
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Maldives
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6%
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6
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Thailand
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4%
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7
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Singapore
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4%
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8
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Macau
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4%
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9
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France
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3%
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10
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Taiwan
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3%
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Likely due to the slowing economy, Chinese travellers surveyedtightened their belts in 2015 by spending 17 percent less per day on average from 2014. Despite this, one-third plan to spend more on travel in the coming year and they are still amongst the biggest spenders on tourism (average spend of US$3,455 per yearamong those surveyed) when compared to travelers from around the world.
Excluding accommodation, Chinese travellers mostly spent their money on shopping, dining and sightseeing.When it comes to looking at how countries are ranked in terms of attractions, Australia came top of the list as a sightseeing destination, ahead of Japan and Hong Kong. But Hong Kong was the number one choice for shopping, followed by Japan and South Korea.
Popular Destinations for Adventure
Australia was the number one choice for both backpacking and adventure while India ranked fourth for Chinese travellers.
Ranking
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Destinations
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Percentage
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1
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Australia
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11%
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2
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Cambodia
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6%
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3
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Japan
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4%
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4
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India
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4%
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5
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Nepal
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3%
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Popular Destinations for Local Culture Exploration
Japan was the number one choice for exploring local culture, followed by Australia and India at the third place of the chart.
Ranking
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Destinations
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Percentage
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1
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Japan
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9%
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2
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Australia
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8%
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3
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India
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7%
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4
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Cambodia
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5%
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5
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Brunei
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4%
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Destinations
Other key findings of Hotels.com CITM:
· In relation to what Chinese travellers want from a hotel, free Wi-Fi was again at the top of the list. 45 percent of hotels surveyed already provide free Wi-Fi, with 46 percent planning to introduce it. Top priority for hotels in marketing to and catering for Chinese travellers is expanding social media channels, with 38 percent listing this. Introducing Mandarin-speaking staff is no longer a top priority.
· Also on the technology front, social media as a source of travel information was up six percent on the previous year.
· When it came to booking, only 10 percent used conventional travel agencies, while 74 percent used online travel agencies. Over 62 percent of bookings were made via mobile, according to those surveyed,with booking via mobile up 10 percent on the previous year’s survey.
· The research combines survey data from more than 3,000 Chinese international travellers and 5,800 Hotels.com accommodation partners globally with Hotels.com own data and other third-party research.
RMB-INR exchange rates in this survey were taken on July 19 2016 of 1 RMB= INR 10.01
Figures on spending, including prices paid for hotel rooms, are quoted in Chinese Renminbi (RMB) and their US dollar equivalent wherever possible. Unless otherwise indicated, the RMB–US$ exchange rate used in this survey is US$1= RMB6.5386, the rate on May 18 2016, the mid-point of the field research.
About the research
The Hotels.com Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) analyses research taken directly from both Chinese international travellers and hoteliers worldwide, combined with Hotels.com own proprietary data and other research.
For the travelers’ survey, Hotels.com used Ipsos, a world leader in market research, which in May 2016 conducted interviews with 3,000 Chinese residents, aged 18–54 years, who had travelled overseas in the past 12 months. A Computer-assisted Web Interviewing technology was used. The representative sample consisted of men and women from a number of cities in all tiers.
The travelers were asked about travel behavior, booking methods, accommodation choices and many other aspects of their travel.
To complement this with the opinion of hoteliers, Hotels.com carried out a global survey of more than 5,800 Hotels.com hotel partners, also during May 2016. The 37 participating countries were Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, the USA and Vietnam.
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About Hotels.com
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