The Chinese outbound travel has been growing steadily over the last 10 years and now that growth is morphing into a desire for new experiences, says a report from China Daily.
"Previously, many inexperienced Chinese tourists stuck to well-known sites, and it didn't take a lot of expertise to win their business. But that, [experts] said, is changing," says China Daily.
Just like most travelers around the world, Chinese travelers crave authenticity.
"The desire of seasoned Chinese travelers to experience authenticity and nature is getting bigger," Wolfgang Arlt, director of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, tells China Daily.
According to the China National Tourism Administration, Chinese outbound tourists numbered 117 million in 2015.
"It is important to avoid stereotypes, because the outbound Chinese market is becoming more sophisticated, more mature and more segmented. I do not think foreign marketers should use stereotypes to portray the Chinese market in their advertising and promotion," Alastair Morrison, former president of the International Tourism Studies Association and CEO of Belle Tourism International Consulting, tells China Daily.
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Like other travelers around the world, the Chinese traveler today is craving lifestyle experiences in foreign lands.
"This shows that the Chinese outbound tourism market is developing in a way that is much more in line with Western markets," James Kennell, principal lecturer in tourism at the University of Greenwich, tells China Daily. "I suspect that as Chinese millennials (people who reached adulthood by the year 2000) move into the tourism market, we will see these trends continuing."
This change will lead the way for more special-interest tourism in countries around the world. For more on the evolution of the Chinese traveler, read on here.
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