One week before the Spring Festival holiday, the hospitality and retail industries are preparing for a record number of Chinese outbound tourists. Indeed, if the Lunar New Year is traditionally the occasion for Chinese to go back to their hometown for a family reunion, traveling abroad is quickly becoming a new trend. According to a report from Ctrip nearly 80 percent of Chinese would like to take advantage of the one-week holiday to travel and half of them would like to go abroad (see article in our Top Stories)
The February holiday could see even more Chinese traveling abroad this year as many countries have recently eased their visa policies for Chinese nationals. A favorable exchange rate of several foreign currencies is also a good incentive to travel abroad.
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China, the Future of Travel
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The 2015 version of the China outbound travel handbook is now available to pre-order on our website as print book or e-book. The new edition includes many case studies and chapters on independent travel, digital marketing and luxury travel.
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Pre-order it HERE or email and get a 30% discount before the end of February.
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Last Week’s Headlines
in the Tourism Sector
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Traditional holidays for a modern China
Spring Festival, also known as Lunar New Year, is the most important festival in China. It’s a time when people across the country travel to their hometowns and spend quality time with their immediate and extended families and close friends. Wives usually accompany their husband to his family home.
However, as standards of living and incomes rise in China, a growing number of families, such as Liu’s, are opting to celebrate the new year by traveling, especially to foreign destinations.
According to a report released by the online travel agency Ctrip in January, nearly 80 percent of Chinese would like to travel during the Spring Festival holiday, which lasts from Feb 18 to 24 this year.
Read more
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Site bids to draw young Chinese travelers
Many Chinese dream of traveling the world, and each age group has different reasons, according to a new survey by Western travel search engine Skyscanner.
The recent research on 2,000 people online, conducted by their Chinese-language website tianxun.cn, shows that those between ages 18 and 24, want to experience the diverse cultures and local cuisines in different countries, while those in the age bracket of 25 to 34, prefer to enjoy local culture and sightseeing. Among Chinese above 35, nearly 57 percent of those surveyed say their main traveling purpose is “sightseeing”.
Their top five dream destinations are Australia, France, the United States, New Zealand and Japan.
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Visa Waiver Programs Spark Tourism Fever: 2014 was a busy year for everyone who works in Beijing’s diplomatic circles.
More Chinese Travelers to Go Overseas for Spring Festival: Two-in-every-five Chinese travellers plan to spend their week-long Spring Festival holiday overseas thanks to looser visa policies.
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Travel destinations for China Tourism :
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Boom in Chinese tourism to Japan: Politics put to the side as favourable exchange rate and luxury goods help the island nation to lure 80 per cent more visitors from China.
Shopping Bags Beat the Beach for Chinese Tourists; Costa Rica Tourism Looking to Adapt: Resting in a hotel that looks out over the sea and sunbathing on the sand is not what Chinese tourists seek in their holiday, a situation that hinders their attraction to the country.
Chinese swarm for new 10-year US visas: The US issued 351,650 business and tourist visas to Chinese citizens in December and January, a year-over-year jump of 68.2 per cent.
Chinese tourists flood Auckland Airport: A flood of Chinese tourists has been helping to fill the arrival halls of Auckland Airport in record numbers.
Kenya reassures Chinese tourists of safety: Nation far from Ebola outbreak takes initiative to let visitors know they will be safe.
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Luxury Tourism and Retail :
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ILTM to field 200 new China buyers as travel tops leisure pursuits for wealthy: The buyers will be sourced not only from first-tier Chinese cities but emerging second and third tiers, including but not limited to Chengdu, Wuhan and Guangzhou.
Will InterContinentala’s Ultra-Localized Hualuxe Hotels Sink Or Swim In China?: This week, Hualuxe Hotels and Resorts-announced the locations of its first two properties.
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China’s mobile internet users cross 500m mark: Almost half of the country’s population now has some form of web access, and smartphones in particular are helping the Chinese get connected.
China raises limit for overseas online shopping transactions: China has raised its overseas online transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000 to boost e-commerce.
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Pioneering China market entry specialist for the Luxury Tourism and Retail sectors.
Working with destinations, operators, brands, hospitality providers, media and events.
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If you have China related stories or questions to contribute, send them to us by email [email protected].
Make sure to get in touch if you are attending any of the industry events where I will be speaking or attending, as it is always good to have a face to face introduction or catch up. List of upcoming events is below.
Sincerely, from the ChinaContact Team
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Disclaimer: With the exception of articles published on the ChinaContact blog, articles mentioned and linked in this newsletter have been curated to bring you news and information about topics relating to Chinese outbound tourism. The opinions expressed in these articles are of the authors only and are not endorsed by ChinaContact. We make every attempt to verify the accuracy of news stories. We are not held liable for any inaccuracies or misrepresentations in these articles.
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ChinaContact
Market Entry Package
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ChinaContact offers the opportunity for brands to enter Tmall International.
Contact us for further details.
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On-demand Concierge Service
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ILTM Asia is by far the most professionally organized B2B trade show in China.
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China Kick-Start Programme
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China Edge launched a modular programme that overcomes the difficult challenge of understanding Chinese consumer
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China Rendez-Vous High-End Lifestyle Events
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Our sister company, China Edge, offers exhibitor and sponsor packages for China Rendez-Vous events as their exclusive UK representative.
Download our package here!
- SO! DALIAN, 18-21 June, Dalian.
- Bund Clasic, 16-18 October, Shanghai.
- SKI & STYLE, November (dates to be confirmed), Beijing.
- SO! HAINAN, 3-6 December, Hainan.
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Plan-Ahead
China Focused or Related Events
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- ITB Berlin , 4-8 March 2015, Berlin.
- Guangzhou International Travel Fair, GITF, 6-8 March 2015, Guangzhou.
- China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market, COTTM, 14-16 April 2015, Beijing.
- World Travel Fair, WTF 2015, 7-8 May 2015, Shanghai
- TDS Asia 2015, 20-21 May 2015, Singapore
- International Luxury Travel Market Asia, ILTM 2015, 1-4 June 2015, Shanghai.
- China Incentive Business Travel & Meeting exhibition, CIBTM 2015 :
2-7 August 2015 , Beijing.
- ITB Asia 2015, 21 – 23 October 2015, Singapore
- 2014 World Travel Market, WTM, 2-5 November (dates to be confirmed), ExCeL, London.
Follow all the China related trade events by
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