As estimated,78.4 million Chinese people will travel overseas this year, spending $80 billion (65 billion euros) during their trips. Among them, 400,000 will choose high-end customized travel services and will spend $4 billion, which shows huge potential of the market.
People can always find business opportunities in the blossoming desires of China's rich set. Now some companies are aiming to provide services which can perhaps bring more spiritual satisfaction to people who have no hesitation when it comes to spending money.
High-end customized travel is one such service which is tailored according to each client's personal demands.
"The Chinese high-end travel market is flourishing and shows promising signs of stable growth, with the number of Chinese outbound tourists set to reach 78 million, a staggering increase of 12 percent year-on-year," says Rupert Hoogwerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, which compiles list of the country's biggest earners and spenders.
The National Tourism Administration estimates that 78.4 million Chinese people will travel overseas this year, spending $80 billion (65 billion euros) during their trips. Among them, 400,000 will choose high-end customized travel services and will spend $4 billion.
Wang Tingting, an analyst with iResearch Consulting Group in Shanghai, says the customized travel market in China has great potential with the growing number of rich people in the country.
China has 2.7 million people who have personal wealth of more than 6 million yuan ($941,000, 768,000 euros), according to the Chinese Luxury Consumer White Paper 2012, published by the Industrial Bank and Hurun Report.
A survey by the credit card company Visa last year showed that China's wealthy tourists on average spend $4,448 each on a trip, the highest among Asian countries and regions.
"Say China's outbound travel headcount reaches 100 million next year, which is very possible, and we assume 5 percent of them choose customized services, that number of clients is more than enough for players in this market," Wang says.
Dai from the tourism academy says the profit margins for companies in the general travel market range from 10 percent to 15 percent, but for high-end travel providers they can reach 20 to 30 percent. "That is why everyone is staring at this large piece of cake."