National Tourism Administration Data Center: Big Data of Chinese Outbound Tourism during the 2018 Spring Festival

The National Tourism Administration Data Center, Ctrip Travel Big Data Joint Laboratory, and Mafengwo Free Travel Joint Laboratory jointly released the 2018 Spring Festival Chinese Outbound Tourism Big Data Report. The core views and main data are as follows:

1. Chinese New Year has become a golden week for global tourism consumption

During the Spring Festival, Mafengwo Travel Network users traveled to 120 countries, 3,944 cities and regions around the world. Ctrip data shows that tourists from 230 domestic cities booked group tours, free travel, customized travel, local entertainment and other products through Ctrip's website, APP and stores, reaching more than 70 countries and more than 800 destination cities at home and abroad. The Spring Festival has become an increasingly localized festival in many countries. According to the survey feedback from tour groups and tour leaders organized by Ctrip to foreign countries, the top ten overseas cities with the most Chinese Spring Festival flavor in 2018 are: Singapore, Bangkok, New York, Sydney, Nagasaki, Kuala Lumpur, London, Moscow, Paris, Manila, covering Asia, Europe, America, Australia and other continents.

2. Southeast Asia has become the largest beneficiary of Chinese outbound tourism

During the 2018 Spring Festival, off-season travel was a popular theme for outbound travel, and the destinations favored by Chinese tourists were still mainly concentrated in the warm Southeast Asia. Combining the big data of online tourists booking through Ctrip APP, website and Ctrip offline stores and Mafengwo data, the regional distribution map of outbound travel during the Spring Festival and the top five popular countries are: Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Other popular overseas destinations booked by Ctrip include Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, the United States, and Italy; other popular overseas destinations booked by Mafengwo include Turkey, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines.

In terms of long-distance travel, according to Ctrip data, during the 2018 Spring Festival, European travel recovered strongly, with 6% of tourists going to Europe, 3% to the United States, and 4% to Australia and New Zealand. With the opening of the China-EU Tourism Year, the popularity of European travel has increased slightly. According to data from the Mafengwo Free Travel Big Data Joint Laboratory, during the 2018 Spring Festival, Italy became the most popular European country for Chinese tourists, followed by Spain, Greece, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and France. Chinese tourists who travel independently prefer to travel in depth, and some tourists spend more than ten days to visit only one country.

Some niche destinations have also entered the vision of Chinese tourists. Ctrip data shows that the ten fastest-growing niche dark horse destinations during this year's Spring Festival are Antarctica, Poland, Belgium, Argentina, Iceland, Brazil, Sweden, Jordan and Portugal.

3. Tourism demand continues to upgrade, driving the rise of island tourism

As Chinese tourists' demand for tourism gradually upgrades from sightseeing to vacation, the popularity of island tours continues to rise, especially among those traveling as a family. According to data from the Mafengwo Free Travel Big Data Joint Laboratory, the sales of local entertainment products increased by more than 50% in this year's island tour consumption. Ctrip's Spring Festival island rankings show that Phuket, Bali, Nha Trang, Boracay, Sabah, Maldives, Koh Samui, Okinawa, and Krabi are the most popular among Chinese outbound tourists, most of whom are in Southeast Asia. Judging from Ctrip's Spring Festival island tour prices, the cost of outbound island tours is still significantly higher than that of Sanya in China.

4. Combining vacations and family trips have become the norm for outbound travel during the Spring Festival

Taking time off to travel is increasingly becoming the norm for Chinese tourists during the Spring Festival. According to data from the Mafengwo Free Travel Big Data Joint Laboratory, during the 2018 Spring Festival, the average number of days for outbound travel was 8.5 days, and 57% of Chinese tourists chose 6-9 days for outbound travel. Among them, the average number of days for Chinese tourists traveling to short-distance destinations such as Japan and Thailand was 7.8 days. For Chinese tourists who choose destinations such as Australia, Europe and the United States, the number of days will be relatively longer, with an average of 12.6 days.

Outbound travel during the Spring Festival is also the best opportunity to reward parents and children. According to Ctrip data, parent-child travel accounts for 34% during the Spring Festival, and traveling with parents has gradually become a filial gift accounting for 15%. Since the Spring Festival is mainly for families and parents, Chinese people have shown great enthusiasm for overseas theme parks. According to the booking situation of Ctrip's "Global Local Entertainment Platform", the "Top 15 Popular Overseas Scenic Spots during the Spring Festival" are: Hong Kong Disneyland, Singapore Universal Studios, Louvre, Bangkok Siam Ocean World, Dubai Tower, Tokyo Disneyland, Universal Studios Japan, Hong Kong Ocean Park, Taipei 101 Building, Universal Studios Hollywood, etc.

Outbound travel popularity rises during Spring Festival in fifth-, second-, and third-tier cities

The cities with the highest enthusiasm for traveling during the Spring Festival are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Tianjin, Xi'an, Wuhan, Kunming, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Chongqing, Changsha, Sanya, Xiamen, Wuxi, Hefei, and Harbin. The cities with the highest per capita spending on outbound travel during the Spring Festival are Suzhou, Yinchuan, Beijing, Shanghai, Yichang, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, and Nanjing. In addition to first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, and cities with higher per capita income in Jiangsu and Zhejiang such as Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, Yinchuan in the northwest, Zhengzhou in the central region, and Shenyang in the northeast are also on the list.