Value tourism highlighted by evolving tastes
Travelers’ evolving tastes underline value tourism, consumption and cultures
For the 148 million travelers from the Chinese mainland who visited overseas destinations last year, and spent $120 billion in all, tourism is no longer just for shopping but an opportunity to mature, evolve and add value to life through richer experiences, said industry experts.
This tectonic shift in the outlook of Chinese tourists is causing winds of change to sweep domestic tourism as well as global travel, and domestic consumption (which is now identified as an economic driver).
Besides, changing tourist preferences have implications for certain emerging vocations, tech-enabled businesses and tradition- and valuebased cultures across the world, they said.
To be sure, outbound Chinese tourists still spend a great deal of money on shopping, but the corresponding growth rate is dropping every year. For instance, in 2017, they spent 5 percent more than in 2016. And in 2018, they spent $120 billion, which was only 4 percent more than in 2017, according to data from the China Tourism Academy.
Stated differently, Chinese travelers’ spends abroad on intangibles like experiences are rising. Global consulting firm Oliver Wyman polled 2,000 Chinese tourists recently for its annual survey. The survey revealed that less than 33 percent of the respondents’ travel expenses was devoted to shopping last year, down from the 41 percent in 2016.
Only 41 percent of the respondents said the main purpose of their overseas trips in 2018 was shopping. In 2017, the corresponding figure was 76 percent and in 2016, the inaugural year of the annual survey, as high as 91 percent.
What makes the data important is that the number of outbound Chinese travelers is increasing every year. Last year’s number of 148 million was up 13 percent from 2017. An estimated 170 million Chinese tourists will make overseas trips in 2022 — their number will likely grow at 5.35 percent annually.
The Oliver Wyman report said luxury purchases by Chinese tourists used to top the world’s per-tourist spend list. But this has faded of late as luxury products now are not only less expensive but easily available at home. A Chinese national does not have to visit shoppers’ paradises overseas to stock up on luxury goods and branded products.
That’s because, starting 2009, leading luxury brands have been slashing prices in the China market, to synchronize them with tags worldwide.
Coupled with the ongoing consumption upgrade, this is shifting points of sales from overseas to China, where e-commerce reigns supreme.
Hunter Williams, Oliver Wyman partner, said: “Chinese tourists have leapfrogged shopping formats that are mainstream elsewhere and taken up mobile e-commerce, mobile payments and social shopping.”
Besides, since July 1, 2018, China has lowered import tariffs on more than 1,440 items across product categories like clothing, shoes and cosmetics.
As estimated by global market consultancy McKinsey & Company, the domestic luxury consumption amount will reach 441 billion yuan ($65 billion) in 2020, which will be more than twice the size in 2016.
Alessandro Bogliolo, chief executive officer of luxury jewelry brand Tiffany, said the firm has changed its inventory plan in China, to meet rising demand.
This trend is empowering Chinese travelers to utilize foreign trips to do things other than shopping.
Lan Luan, partner at McKinsey’s Shanghai office, said life-enriching experiences through recreation, relaxation or learning have now become the mainstays of overseas trip itineraries of Chinese tourists.
Meaningful memories have become the main goal of tourism. Chinese people are seeking authentic experiences, savoring more local food, soaking in local culture through homestays or boutique hotels, and visiting historic or unconventional destinations.
Since mainland travelers are more social and digital these days, their choice of tourist destinations is changing too.
While short distance travel to nearby places such as Hong Kong is still common, a growing number of mainland travelers are more inclined to visit faraway destinations such as Iceland, and share their experiences via self-produced multimedia content on online social networks.
Zhang Jianping, director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said this trend has implications for even daigou (overseas shoppers who buy foreign products for customers on the Chinese mainland). Lower tariffs on consumer goods could eat into profits of daigou, eventually contracting their business, he said.
Agreed James Yang, principal of Oliver Wyman. “We have observed a decline in both shopping for oneself and for resale. So, China’s first e-commerce law may have already had an effect before its official implementation.”
Also, Chinese tourists have become more professional and independent over the past few years. Until three years back, nearly 15 percent of them would entrust tasks like trip planning to travel agencies. Now, however, only 3 percent rely on external help.
This trend is particularly prevalent among the well-heeled, according to Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute. Organized trips to exotic islands, which were popular aspects of luxury lifestyles, have dropped sharply to the eighth spot on the list of top 10 travel themes.
On the other hand, around-theglobe trips rose quickly to the top as 37 percent of the surveyed 236 billionaires put this on top of their plans.
About 38 percent of the affluent Chinese in first-tier cities said they would prefer travel themes featuring art and culture in the next three years.
Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun Research Institute, said the top position of around-the-globe trips indicated that people prefer to learn from local cultures during their travels.
Tourists’ evolving tastes are having an impact on domestic tourism in China as well. Destination choices are undergoing a change.
Dai Bin, director of the China Tourism Academy, said Chinese tourists are traveling longer distances away from their homes although their leisure time has shortened over the past 10 years.
Trips are made for different purposes. Seasonal destinations or resorts are gaining increasing popularity as more people are preferring cooler places in summers, and adventure sports like skiing during winters.
An increasing number of Chinese have shown a preference for trips that include visits to various museums, and learning from local cultures.
A report released jointly by China UnionPay Merchant Services and the China Tourism Academy in late January showed that Chinese people’s willingness to travel has remained between 82 percent and 87 percent over the past few years.
The Chinese people made more than 5.5 billion trips to domestic tourist destinations in 2018, up almost 11 percent from a year earlier. This helped sell products and services worth 5.13 trillion yuan, up 12 percent year-on-year.
“It has now become common sense among most Chinese that travel is a necessity to ensure life quality. As people travel more and show higher requirement for quality, local service providers have also come up with more itineraries and new business models, which help boost the industry,” said Dai.
Chen Xin, tourism industry analyst at UBS Securities, predicted that the momentum in the domestic tourism market will carry into the next five years. The annual growth rate for trips and people’s consumption at tourist destinations will remain above 10 percent.
“While there are concerns that the economic slowdown will affect people’s traveling budget, our research from 1994 to 2017 shows that there is no strong correlation between macroeconomy and tourism industry performance,” he said.
Chen further said the central government has been offering continuous support to the tourism industry, while the regulations for some other industries have been tightening.
As national holidays in China are 20 percent fewer than in developed countries, the Chinese tourism market will promise more room for growth if the number of off-days are increased.
“The cost of domestic trips has been reducing. For one thing, the ticket prices at major tourist attractions have been going down in the past few years. More importantly, the extensive high-speed train network in China is the most important impetus for domestic trips, as train ticket prices are only half of airfares,” he said.
Demand for travel in lower-tier cities cannot be overlooked, especially that in third- and fourth-tier cities where the Engel coefficient has remained at a low level. (A low Engel coefficient reflects a higher standard of living.)
As China’s urbanization rate will reach 60 percent by 2020, people in the third- and fourth-tier cities will demonstrate a higher frequency of domestic trips in the next few years, he said.