"China, led by younger adults, has become vital to the global travel market's growth," according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Brian Egger and Margaret Huang, citing industry tracker Phocuswright Inc. “As China's travel market takes off, all eyes should be on the country's roughly 400 million millennials, who will drive spending on airfare, hotels, theme parks, casinos and cruises.”

 

Chinese will take almost 70 percent more trips overseas in 2020 compared to 2015, fueling growth in tourism and aiding transportation and infrastructure, the analysts said in a report this week. In 2015, Chinese made 128 million trips abroad, government data show, with adults ages 18-34 accounting for about 60 percent of outbound travelers that year, according to Phocuswright.

 

Travel within the world's most populous nation is booming as consumers with more disposable income seek more exotic experiences and far-flung destinations than their parents. Industry growth is underpinning a broad range of domestic activity, from ski resorts and tropical hotels to high-end manufacturing of trains and planes. This change is accelerating the economy's transition away from the old smokestack drivers of growth. 

 

Travel accounted for 9 percent of China’s economy last year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, which projects the industry growth will average 8 percent annually from 2017 to 2027, outpacing other major economies like India and the U.S.