China Becomes World's Biggest Travel Spender According to Hotels.com Report
Hotels.com Chinese International Travel Monitor highlights shift toward independent travel
DALLAS, August 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
China has overtaken the U.S. and Germany as the world's biggest spenders on travel, with Chinese travelers spending $102 billion on international travel in 2012, an increase of over 40 percent from 2011*.
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The second annual Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) released today by Hotels.com, the world's leading hotel booking website, reveals significant insights into the changing behaviors of Chinese travelers and how the global hotel industry is adapting.
Surveying more than 3,000 Chinese international travelers and more than 1,500 hoteliers around the world, the Hotels.com report found 75 percent of global hoteliers say Chinese travelers now account for up to five percent of their business. Nearly half (45 percent) say they have experienced an increase in Chinese guests over the last year, with the greatest increases coming in APAC (61 percent). Hoteliers see China as a positive growth market over the next three years with one in 10 expecting to see an increase of more than 50 percent and almost half (47 percent) anticipating an 11-50 percent rise.
According to the Hotels.com report, the majority of overseas Chinese travel (96 percent) has been for leisure purposes, while just over half (52 percent) have also visited other countries for business or education.
In a growing trend, nearly two thirds (62 percent) of Chinese travelers say they prefer to travel independently and not as part of a group. This development was confirmed by the hoteliers surveyed, who say 70 percent of Chinese guests now travel independently, compared with a much more even split in 2012.
"The 2013 Chinese International Travel Monitor shows that the move to independent travel identified in the last year's report is now preferred by the majority of Chinese travelers," said Johan Svanstrom, Managing Director of Hotels.com Asia Pacific. "While in-roads have been made in this area, governments will have to take this into account when organising their visa application infrastructure and processes."
In addition, the CITM highlights areas for continued improvement for accommodation providers. The ability to accept Chinese payment methods is seen as the single most important offering from hotels, with over one-fourth (26 percent) of Chinese travelers feeling this is a key area for improvement.
Three-fourths (75 percent) of Chinese travelers say hoteliers need to improve the provision of translated items, such as welcome literature, websites, TV programs and newspapers, while almost half (42 percent) say that they would like to see more Mandarin-speaking hotel staff.
Highlighting a disconnect between the desires of Chinese travelers and provisions made by hoteliers, one-fourth (25 percent) of hoteliers say they offer cultural awareness training to staff but 11 percent offer welcome materials in Mandarin. Additionally, just over half (56 percent) of hotels globally have invested less than $10,000** in developing programs and products specifically catered to Chinese guests over the past 12 months.
When it comes to researching and booking travel, personal recommendation plays an increasingly vital role, with almost one-third (30 percent) of Chinese travelers saying they rely on advice from family and friends, followed by online travel booking and review sites.
More than one-fourth of Chinese travelers (27 percent) use social media to help them make decisions on vacation destinations, with this figure rising to 33 percent among travelers under 35.
"These insights highlight the need for hoteliers to adapt their marketing strategies, with a particular focus on online and social media channels, to attract Chinese travelers," said Svanstrom. "While the CITM shows hoteliers are making positive steps towards catering to an increasingly mobile and savvy Chinese travel market, it also shows the need for the global hotel industry to adapt facilities and services to more extensively cater to the world's largest market of travelers."
"In addition, programs being implemented by many governments and tourism authorities to attract and facilitate for Chinese travelers are a positive step in the right direction, but the pace of growth in the volume of Chinese travelers appears to be outstripping the pace of change in the hotel industry," he concluded.
*United Nations World Travel Organisation World Tourism Barometer, April 2013, retrieved 16 July 2013, http://mkt.unwto.org/en/barometer
**When asked 'How much money (in US$) has your property invested in programmes or products catering specifically to the Chinese guest over the past 12 months', 56 percent answered under $10,000 had been invested.
To download the full report in English please visit http://press.hotels.com/citm
About the research
The Hotels.com Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) collects data directly from both Chinese international travelers and international hoteliers.
The survey was commissioned in May 2013 through TNS amongst a representative sample of 3,000 Chinese residents in mainland China who had paid for accommodations on an international trip at least once in the past five years. The questionnaire covered topics including but not limited to travel behavior, booking methods and preferences for accommodations.
Hotels.com carried out a global survey of more than 1,500 Hotels.com hotel partners during May/June 2013. Responses were received from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK and the U.S.
About Hotels.com®
Hotels.com is a leading online accommodation booking brand. Through the Expedia, Inc. global network of websites, Hotels.com, LP connects travelers with 220,000 properties around the world, ranging from international chains and all-inclusive resorts to local favorites and bed & breakfasts, together with all the information needed to book the perfect stay. Hotels.com, LP benefits from one of the largest hotel contracting teams in the industry, obtaining the best rates for its customers, and offers frequent sales, special deals and promotions. There are more than 7 million Guest Reviews on the websites from users who have actually stayed in the hotels to ensure customers can make an informed choice when booking. Through Hotels.com, LP's industry-leading loyalty program Welcome Rewards®, customers can earn a free* night for every 10 nights stayed at more than 85,000 hotels. Under its Price Match Guarantee†, if a customer can find the same deal for less on a prepaid hotel, Hotels.com, LP will refund the difference. Travelers can book online or by contacting one of the multilingual call centers. Special apps for mobile phones and tablets can also be downloaded at http://www.hotels.com/deals/mobile_app/ enabling customers to book on the go with access to 20,000 last minute deals. Hotels.com publishes an award-winning twice-yearly review of international hotel room price trends called the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index™, which is now produced in 31 individual country editions, with North American data available at http://www.hotel-price-index.com. Follow Hotels.com on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Hotels.comUS, on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/hotelsdotcom and on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/hotelsdotcom. Hotels.com, LP is part of Expedia, Inc., the largest online travel company in the world with an extensive portfolio that includes some of the world's best-known brands.
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SOURCE Hotels.com
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