Chinese Tourists are Spending Less Overseas, but Traveling Overseas More Often A recent report from consultancy firm Oliver Wyman found that in 2018 Chinese tourists spent 12% less year over year overall per trip, and 15% less year over year on shopping per trip. These findings confirm the trends we discussed in our Chinese Outbound Tourists Survey 2018: Urban Millennials Lead the Charge to More Independent, Adventurous Travel report. That research revealed:

• Chinese outbound tourists’ average spending per trip dropped from ¥15,115 ($2,257) in 2017 to ¥12,416 ($1,854) in 2018, an 18% decline year over year.
• Similarly, average expenditure on shopping in their most recent overseas trip totaled ¥6,938 ($1,036) in 2018, down 24% from ¥9,088 ($1,357) year over year. 

At the same time, the number of Chinese outbound trips has continued to grow. Our 2018 report found the following:

• Chinese outbound tourists made 2.1 trips on average in 2018, compared with only 2.0 trips in 2017.
• In particular, younger Chinese outbound tourists aged between 18 and 39 took an average of 2.3 trips in 2018, compared with the 2.1 average across all surveyed Chinese outbound tourists.

Shift from Shopping to Experience Travelling Chinese tourists, especially the younger generation, are shifting from traveling to shop to traveling for an experience. The government has also been cracking down on diagou, people who buy luxury goods overseas and bring them home for resale. At the same time, the government has made it easier for online retailers to sell directly into China. Both of these factors have likely dampened the appetite for shopping overseas.  At the same time, younger tourists are discovering the joys of travel just for the experience. CBNData’s 2018 Chinese Travel Consumption Trends Report indicated that 77% of respondents born 1980 or after consider experience and exploring their personal interests as their main purpose of outbound travel, compared with only 66% of respondents born before 1980. These younger travelers are more likely to look for local delicacies, exhibitions or exotic experiences instead of shopping when traveling overseas. Social Influence is Crucial to Embrace the Younger Generation in China As younger Chinese tourists look more for experiences over shopping while travelling, social influencers are playing an increasingly important role: Chinese people will look to social platforms for information on where to go and what to do. Younger Chinese tourists look for cool tourist spots and restaurants, and shop for items that cewebrities (online celebrities) bought. They value peers’ recommendations, and cewebrities play a key role influencing where to go, where to shop and what to eat.  To attract Chinese tourists, pure branding is not enough. It is important to understand and leverage key opinion leaders (KOLs) and social platforms. Xiaohongshu, Weibo, WeChat and TikTok are the most widely used social platforms and represent a great opportunity to reach younger Chinese travelers.