Trip.com Group and UnionPay International have jointly published the “2019 Chinese Outbound Travel Consumption Report” on 28 Nov 2019. The report, combining big data derived from outbound travel product orders and overseas bank card transactions by Chinese nationals provides insights into the cross-border travel consumption trends of Chinese travelers. 
 

According to the statistics from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Chinese nationals made more outbound travel expenditures than travelers from any other country, with total consumption reaching US$ 127.5 billion.

 

Online Travel Agencies (OTA) and UnionPay banks are the dominant tools for Chinese travelers for their overseas trips.

 

In 2019, the outbound travel products purchased by Chinese nationals covered 158 countries, 17% growth year-over-year.

 

According to the statistics by UnionPay International, the Top 10 sources in China in terms of outbound travelers who spent the most were Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Hubei, Shandong, Fujian and Liaoning.

 

Shopping remained at the top of Chinese outbound travelers’ expenditure categories, but the consumption by Chinese travelers are increasingly diversified, with other top categories including catering, accommodation, tour guides, places of interests, performances, transportation, local entertainment activities, self-driving and cruise.

 

Top 10 overseas shopping destinations for Chinese travelers in 2019 were Japan, UAE, United Kingdom, France, Singapore, United States, Spain, South Korea, Italy and Australia.

 

Female outbound travelers were more enthusiastic about shopping during their overseas trips, accounting for 55% of the total outbound travelers who shopped; however, the average shopping expenditure per capita by their male counterparts were 1.15 times more. More female travelers sought bargains and discounts when they traveled overseas, with 64% of the coupons on Trip.com Group’s shopping channel obtained by females.

According to the report, the total shopping spending by the generation born in the 1980s ranked at the top, and the generation born in 2000 started travelling and shopping aboard.

 

More than half of the outbound consumption and bookings by Chinese travelers occurred during their trips, instead of booking in advance.

 

Data from the Things-To-Do platform on Trip.com Group showed that the order of museum tickets in foreign countries increased 105%, overseas ride-hailing orders on Trip.com Group app increased over 300% with average spending per capita over RMB70, and orders for local tour guides rose 40% with the average order exceeding RMB800.