India in bucket list of Chinese travellers in Asia-Pacific: Report

MUMBAI: With China becoming the top source market for many countries, a report found that India featured in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) bucket list of popular destinations among Chinese travellers.

According to the sixth annual Chinese International Travel Monitor report by Hotels.com, India featured in the APAC bucket of popular destinations amongst Chinese travellers, with Hong Kong being the most visited country in the region in 2016.

Himalayas or the Mount Everest also featured in the top three landmarks in APAC region, along with Mount Fuji in Japan and Great Barrier Reef in Australia to have caught the Chinese traveller's fancy, it said.

"A considerable 7 per cent of the travellers voted for Himalayas or Mount Everest as one of the three landmarks outside China that is a must-visit in their lifetime," CITM report said.

The report combined data from more than 3,000 Chinese international travellers and over 3,800 Hotels.com accommodation partners globally.

Meanwhile, the rise of the Chinese 'more generation'

identified in the report saw Chinese travellers of all age groups travelling more often and for longer, with the number of trips and number of days per trip increasing in the past year from 3 to 4 and from 5-7 days, respectively, it said.

Chinese travellers are also visiting multiple cities per trip, with over 80 per cent saying they would not just stay in a single city, the report said.

This 'more generation' is providing huge economic benefits to global economies with China seeing 122 million outbound tourists in 2016, 4 per cent more than in 2015 and a staggering 74 per cent more than in 2011, it added.

The potential for growth in both the number of Chinese travellers and their spending power is enormous, Hotels.com Vice President and Managing Director Asia Pacific and Latin America Abhiram Chowdhry said.

"Our research has identified that China outbound tourism offered huge economic benefits to many countries across the globe. It's, therefore, vital that hotels cater for Chinese travellers and develop innovative hotel services that tap into their spending power, while ensuring the sustainability of their businesses - and local travel industry – for the future," he added.

"Despite many key indicators providing signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy, this year's CITM found spending on travel increased across all age brackets, with Chinese travellers spending USD 3,600 in the last 12 months – more than a quarter of their income and an increase of 4 per cent compared with the previous year," Chowdhry said.