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Tourism in China: 2022 Trends and Investment Opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact Chinese tourism, more so because of the country’s zero-Covid policy. New trends have emerged – which has seen a surge in domestic tourism and changing travel preferences among various demographic categories. In this article, we explore how China’s indigenous tourism market is diversifying, successfully catering to the lifestyles of Gen Z and young families, and touch on the prospects for the return of China outbound tourism. We also offer insights for foreign businesses interested in China’s tourism sector and its allied service industries like retail and sustainability.

As more countries open their borders to international tourism, the absence of Chinese visitors is causing more than a little economic pain. From Phuket to Paris, major tourist destinations have relied on an average of 150 million Chinese travelers spending up to US$255 billion yearly on sightseeing. Now three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these destinations are starting to realize th at it will be a while till the Chinese t ourists return. Some analysts believe that this could impose serious economic consequences on affected countries.  

Despite the rest of the world moving toward an endemic approach to the virus, China continues to implement a zero-Covid policy. As of August 2022, China has a  quarantine system   in place for inbound travelers as well as rigorous  measures that get promptly activated in case of outbreaks. Yet, it is precisely such measures that allow Chinese tourists to feel safer when traveling across provinces and have fueled the growth of the country’s domestic tourism industry.  

Nevertheless, tourism market data from China in the first quarter of 2022 showed a significant dip when compared to the same period in the previous year . Data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, for example, revealed that, during the New Year’s Day and Spring Festival, 52 million and 251 million people traveled across the country between the two holidays , showing a year-on-year decrease of 5.3 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively. This of course can be put down to the resurgence of Covid-19 with multiple regional and global outbreaks due to more infectious variants.   However, with the beginning of the summer holiday season, the slowdown appears to have once again reversed as ticket sales are noticeably on the rise. This presents us with a unique opportunity to zoom in on China’s tourism market and explore how it has transformed since the pandemic . We discuss who is the new Chinese traveler, look at destination trends, as well as the types of services required by the tourism market.    

The Chinese tourist profile at a glance

Family traveling at its peak   .

The pandemic has caused the decline in popularity of destinations previously famous for group travel, a revenue mainstay for the tourism industry. Chinese travelers are instead opting for different plans based on needs and preferences, giving rise to more family vacations, healthcare tours, and research trips. In particular, “parent-child tourism” has gained momentum throughout 2021 and 2022, along with the steady revival of the national tourism industry.    

The 2022 Summer Travel Market Trend Report released by Ctrip (one of China’s leading travel companies) showed that family travel packages have reached a peak in the 2022 summer booking spree. In July 2022, the number of family air tickets sold increased by 804 percent, compared to the previous month. Similarly, bookings of family-friendly hotels grew 80 percent, compared to the same period in 2021, and were up by 20 percent from 2019 – most of these bookings being concentrated in four- and five-star hotels.  

Moreover, in July, the number of families traveling from Shanghai and Beijing, as well as from other big cities in China, increased significantly compared to previous holiday periods, such as the Labor Day Holiday or the Dragon Boat Festival. The backlog of travel demand from these places was primarily due to the impact of the epidemic response in the first half of the year, which gradually eased at the beginning of summer.  

Looking at the preferred travel destinations, families with children in primary or junior high schools prefer island tours to Sanya, Haikou, Qingdao, and Xiamen , among others, largely because of their family-friendly services. These two groups of travelers have also turned their attention to the tours to the northwestern provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, and Xinjiang.  

The Ctrip air ticket data also showed that younger travelers were accompanied by more family members. For example, primary and junior high school students travel with 3.5 and 3.2 people in summer vacations, respectively. On the other hand, college students are more independent in their travel habits.  

Gen Z: T he online buyers  

As Gen Z’s purchasing power increases, travel has become a significant avenue for them to seek leisure and enjoyment. Survey data showed that over half (52.7 percent) of the Gen Z travelers surveyed looked for travel information on social media and short video platforms, including Xiaohongshu, Kuaishou, Weibo, and Bilibili. About 49 percent of those surveyed chose online travel agencies (OTAs) like Trip.com, Qunar, and Meituan. According to the research, just 16.7 percent of the tourists used offline services to obtain information.    

As of 2022, prices and budget remained the main deciding factors for Gen Z when planning their tours, followed by other elements such as transit convenience and safety. 62.5 percent of Gen Z use OTAs to book their travel, with official supplier websites coming in second, followed by social media and e-commerce sites like Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Taobao.  

  Data also revealed that natural landscapes were the main draw for Gen Z tourists in 2022. Despite higher spending power, these Chinese travelers had little interest in visiting popular retail malls or luxury sites.  

Corporate travel  

According to data from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) , China took the top spot globally for business travel expenditure in 2021. Indeed, following a 38 percent drop in that same category over the previous year, China’s corporate travel expenditure increased by 31.7 percent in 2021 as the local market rebounded – more than doubling the worldwide growth rate.  

According to the study, 16.3 percent more Chinese businesses used travel management agencies in 2021 than they did in 2020. In China’s top cities , including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, this number increased by 24.6 percent.   

By 2024, the business travel industry in China is predicted to recover and reach pre-pandemic levels, with total spending on business travel topping US$400 billion. The strong recovery momentum in China’s business travel industry is reflected in the Trip.com Group’s 2021 performance, with hotel reservations on Trip.Biz (the business-dedicated section of CTrip) increasing by almost triple digits.   

China’s latest tourism trends by destination

Peripheral or ‘short-distance’ tourism on the rise  .

With the continuous development of leisure tourism in recent years, the short-distance tourism model has gained enough market recognition and respect.   

Affected by the pandemic, many people in China still have concerns about the health risks of long-distance traveling. Several primary and secondary schools still restrict the travel of students during long holiday periods, resulting in families preferring to travel short distances and explore nearby landmarks. Local tours, “rediscovering the beauty of the surroundings”, have become popular. new trend as residents gets the opportunity to experience the place where they were born and raised.  

The improvement of both tourist facilities and services in the hospitality sector has made it possible for this type of tourism to attract a larger pool of customers.    

Rural tourism  

Holiday destinations have undergone an evolution from country to the city and back again. Against the background of rural revitalization , the government has appointed a series of “village +” destinations to promote tourism, such as the Yellow River Suji Village and the Jijiadun Ideal Village. Ctrip data shows that the order volume of rural hotels more than doubled in 2021 compared to the previous year, attracting visitors mainly born between the 1980s and the 1970s.    

In the past, rural vacations meant spending time between mountains, rivers, and the serene scenery offered by the countryside. Today’s offers are much more diversified, as enterprises combine their business models with sustainable development goals and attract tourists with higher spending capacity.  

Cultural products   

With the growing enthusiasm of young people for Chinese culture, cultural tourist offers have become more popular.    

Various museums, for example, have recently become a hot topic on the search list for nationwide destinations. At the beginning of 2022, the unearthing of cultural relics at the Sanxingdui Ruins site set off a boom in museum tourism. Similarly, the China Grand Canal Museum in Yangzhou (Jiangsu province) has become a popular tourist check-in place, so much so that it attracted a monthly audience of more than 250,000 visitors during its trial operation period alone.   

At the same time, the organic integration of traditional folk culture has become more popular, and activities such as temple blessings and intangible cultural heritage experiences, are very popular among tourists. The rural market in northern Anhui, for example, staged wonderful performances , such as Huainan Shouxian drum, Suzhou Sixian Sizhou opera, and Taihe lion lantern , among others, attracting many tourists. Various places in Fujian have carried out splendid, themed activities around the “Fu” culture .  

A sense of cultural self-confidence among young Chinese people can be attributed as the main reason for the growth of such cultural destinations and scenic spots – not to be confused with the popular “Red Tourism” .    

Closer to nature   

The data collected by Ctrip at the beginning of 2022, revealed that natural protected areas and national forest parks appeared in the top five popular scenic spots announced by over 22 cities on the mainland.  

Indeed, Chinese travelers are paying increasing attention to nature-immersive destinations. According to the report of Qiaoyou.com, more than half of the app’s users have been to at least one of the first batch of national parks officially announced in October 2021, and 83.6 percent of the surveyed people plan to travel there in the future.  

It is worth mentioning that Chinese tourists nowadays engage more with natural destinations through a variety of activities, such as photography, acquiring natural knowledge, exercising, etc. Increasing this skill set has become an important factor in attracting travelers to explore outdoor scenic spots; hiking and camping have become popular new ways to get closer to nature.  

Prospects for outbound tourism

According to recent forecasts , a ‘strong wave’ of outbound travel from China will start up again in 2023, returning to its pre-pandemic levels by 2024. Such predictions are backed by plans announced by the country’s aviation regulator, which has issued a five-year development plan , with a strong focus on expanding domestic flights and restoring international air travel by 2025.   

Chinese tourists’ interest in overseas destinations has remained attractive though recovery is still a long way off. The Asia-Pacific region remains the most popular with Chinese tourists. Most desired overseas destinations are Southeast Asia, Europe, Russia, and Japan.   

The lifting of international border restrictions in China and the incidence of COVID-19 cases in the destination country are key factors shaping Chinese decision-making about outbound travel. Travel patterns to destinations such as Hong Kong and Macao demonstrate how COVID-19 cases and quarantine requirements have an immediate effect on travelers’ decision-making.  

Innovation is key to the development of China’s tourism products

Fintech for flexibility  .

New payment patterns have been quietly emerging behind the scenes as the travel sector has steadily recovered from the pandemic slowdown. One of the most prominent developments in travel technology in recent years is the growing confluence of finance and travel. Whether it is new payment options offered by travel suppliers, improvements in the flow of funds among tourism market players, or travel agencies launching full-fledged fintech solutions, the way the travel sector does business is rapidly changing.   

Aligned with these trends, airlines, hotels, and travel agencies may seek to modify their customer loyalty programs to encourage clients to utilize their specialized services thereby entrenching their position in this high-margin market .     

Smart scenic spots  

Nearly half of Chinese tourists cited COVID-19 prevention and control measures as the most important factor when planning a trip, according to a survey. Self-guided tours, small group tours, and customized tours with less contact with strangers are preferred. This may accelerate the pace of construction of smart scenic spots.    

Through online platforms and the travel app of the scenic spot, tourists can learn about their destination, find information to support travel route planning, book tickets for scenic spots and hotel accommodation, besides online shopping for souvenirs in advance. Such services and digital products allow tourists to be informed before, during , and after their tour is completed, while also enhancing the attraction of scenic spots.    

Technology empowers hospitality  

With the deepening integration of “Internet +” tourism, information communication technology has become the driving force for tourism development.  

With newer applications of the Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence, which will get accelerated in the 5G era, digital technology is being fully integrated into the tourism industry. This has brought changes to tourism supply and consumption, promoting new business models, and higher quality development of the tourism industry overall.  

Alibaba, China’s e-commerce and technology behemoth debuted its first robotic hotel, the FlyZoo Hotel, in December 2018. This “hotel of the future” was set up in the company’s hometown, Hangzhou , by Alibaba’s online travel agency (Fliggy) together with other company divisions, including Alibaba A.I. Labs and Alibaba Cloud.   

This high-tech hotel’s major goal is to show how artificial intelligence is already changing China’s hospitality sector and how it will motivate other countries’ travel and hospitality sectors to embrace innovation.   

  FlyZoo Hotel CEO Wang Qun has frequently said in several interviews that the company would keep developing “smart brains” for automated hotels in China as well as more specialized experiences for visitors.   

Key takeaways for foreign investors

Retail shopping while traveling  .

Retail shopping while traveling is emerging as a popular consumption trend in China. The pop-up store may not be a brand-new concept, but it is making a comeback in the Chinese travel landscape. For instance, in collaboration with China Duty-Free Group, several companies, including SK-II and Clé de Peau Beauté, have opened pop-up shops in Hainan to cater to the demands of customers who have been unable to go abroad due to the epidemic.  

Clé de Peau Beauté’s pop-up shop , for instance, has hosted several live-streamed events, and offered exclusive experiences in Sanya (a top-tourist city on the Chinese island of Hainan), including a simulator room, QR codes, and AR mirrors. These features have notably improved the Clé de Peau Beauté pop-up experience, with the live stream attracting a record of 6.4 million impressions and over 700,000 views on Yizhibo.  

Meanwhile, an AI skin analyzer, animated shorts, a WeChat mini-program, as well as an AR video game were among the features included at SK-“Social II’s Retail” pop-up store (also located in the Sanya International Duty-Free Shopping Complex).   

Travel companies need to adapt  

There is a clear desire to travel, and a huge pent-up demand for outbound travel. At the same time, despite intermittent COVID-19 outbreaks, interest in domestic travel has continued to increase – particularly whenever the epidemic situation stabilizes. In this fluid market scenario, travel agencies can plan for demand spikes while also considering changing travel tastes. To better serve tourists, travel agencies may need to become more flexible with their strategies. Given frequent changes in legislation, travel agencies can be more accommodating when clients adjust their plans. Additionally, they may concentrate on nearby communities that are accessible by car, diversify their product offerings to adapt to demand changes, and foster loyalty by paying closer attention to customer happiness and the distinctiveness of the tourism experience. Travel agencies may also utilize digital channels to communicate with consumers and can customize content and presentation.  

Analyzing trends in the tourism industry suggests that China’s domestic market has much-untapped potential. Various opportunities exist for the travel industry to diversify its product offerings, such as through curated and immersive experiences or by responding to changing customer needs. In turn, tourism marketing strategies can incorporate insights from the dynamic experiences of the domestic market during the pandemic — enabling the domestic operating model to achieve long-term inclusive and sustainable growth.    

Gen Z is the new decision-makers  

Consumers no longer primarily travel for shopping. Gen Z in China, which dominates the upcoming generation of tourists, seeks different experiences when traveling. Hiking, low-altitude flying, and water sports are just a few of the trending activities researched by this new group of travelers, according to recent data .   

This shows that tourists now seek more than a pleasant travel experience. They are typically more specific about their travel goals and eager to meet individuals who share their interests. This opens space for companies to engage in the digital market and invest in social media apps that feature tools to connect with travel and tourism. Additionally, most young travelers looking for a variety of unique experiences. Since social media content is how many choose their specific destinations or travel activities, Gen Z tourists in China are eager to replicate some of the experiences they encounter on these apps. Therefore, the way to win these consumers’ hearts, particularly in this demographic group, is to offer experiences (rather than products) – which may have more personal value.  

China Briefing is written and produced by Dezan Shira & Associates . The practice assists foreign investors into China and has done so since 1992 through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong. Please contact the firm for assistance in China at [email protected] . Dezan Shira & Associates has offices in Vietnam , Indonesia , Singapore , United States , Germany , Italy , India , and Russia , in addition to our trade research facilities along the Belt & Road Initiative . We also have partner firms assisting foreign investors in The Philippines , Malaysia , Thailand , Bangladesh .

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China Tourism Industry Overview

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The press conference featuring "This Decade in China" in Beijing, China, August 24. /CFP

China attaches great importance to cultural construction and tourism development, promoting historic achievements and changes in culture and tourism, a Ministry of Culture and Tourism official told media in Beijing on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference that reflects on China over the last decade, Rao Quan, vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said, "Over the past ten years, the cultural industry and tourism industry have flourished."

"The role of the cultural empowerment and tourism drive has fully emerged, and the influence of Chinese culture has continued to rise," he said. 

Achievements of China's cultural and tourism industry

Rao said China's achievements in cultural tourism and cultural heritage in recent years are reflected in five main areas: the thriving of the artistic creation, the continuous improvement of the modern public cultural service system, the rapid development of the cultural and tourism industry, the significant results in cultural heritage protection and inheritance, and the higher level of foreign exchange and cooperation achieved through the cultural and tourism sector.

China has continuously improved the working mechanism, increased its support of the National Arts Foundation and ensured a leading role of various activities concerning literary and artistic awards and exhibitions, so that artistic creation continues to prosper, he said.

Continuous improvement has also been made to China's modern public cultural service system. National cultural services standards have been introduced, and the protection of citizens' basic cultural rights has become increasingly more efficient.

By the end of 2021, there were 3,215 public libraries, 3,316 cultural centers, 40,200 cultural stations, and 575,400 village-level comprehensive cultural service centers nationwide. Meanwhile, all public libraries, cultural centers, art galleries, and 91 percent of museums are open to the public for free.

Innovation and creativity have improved the standards of the culture and tourism industry and boosted its growth. The rapid development of the digital cultural sector, "cloud exhibition," online performance, live webcasts, immersive experiences and other new businesses have also accelerated the sector's rise.

By the end of 2021, China ranked second in the world with 56 World Heritage sites and 42 items on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, ranking first in the world. Additionally, more than 1,800 sets of lost cultural relics were returned to China. 

China's exchanges and cooperation with foreign countries have also intensified, fostering a higher level of opening up to the outside world in culture and tourism. China currently has cultural and tourism agencies in 93 countries and has signed inter-governmental agreements on cultural and tourism cooperation with 157 countries.

Efforts to protect China's cultural heritage

Regarding cultural heritage work, Jin Ruiguo from the National Cultural Heritage Administration said China has made historic achievements in many areas.

"China has made an overall plan to strengthen the protection and utilization of cultural relics and issued six relevant policy documents, which is a reflection of the continued deepening of awareness of cultural relics protection," said Jin.

At the same time, China's efforts to protect cultural relics continue to increase, and the overall situation of cultural relics safety is good. The reform of heritage museums continues to push forward, and a new type of modern museum system has formed, with a total of 6,183 museums of record nationwide, and the free access rate reached 91 percent. The total number of exhibitions held annually has also increased by 144 percent.

Highlights of China's tourism development

With the booming tourism industry in China, tourism products are becoming more and more extensive. Rural tourism development, infrastructure, product supply and services continue to optimize and improve, and China has launched 1,299 national rural tourism key villages and towns. 

It is estimated that in 2019, China's rural tourism reception exceeded three billion people.

Tourists visit the site of the Zunyi Conference, one of the national red tourism scenic areas in Zunyi City in southwestern China's Guizhou Province, August 4, 2022. /CFP

Red tourism has also significantly increased, with national red tourism-related scenic areas expanding from 100 to 300 in the past decade. In 2019, it realized an average annual growth rate of more than 11 percent in visitors, reaching 1.41 billion visitors. Red tourism is a subsector of the tourism industry where people visit locations with historical significance to China's "red" past and is very popular among young Chinese. 

Leisure and vacation tourism are also constantly meeting people's diversified and personalized leisure and vacation needs, taking the initiative to adapt to the diversified needs of consumers for tourism consumption, promoting the quality and efficiency of scenic tourist spots. China has a tourism rating system that rates tourist attractions from A to 5A based on their overall quality, and the number of national 5A tourism scenic areas increased from 144 in 2012 to 306 in 2021. 

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The State Council, in a circular on Jan 20, announced a development plan for the tourism sector during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).

By 2025, China will have a stronger modern system for the tourism sector integrating cultural development and boasting an improved barrier-free environment and services. By 2035, the country aims to become a world tourism powerhouse, with a wider variety of tourist hot spots, including national cultural parks, world-class tourist attractions and resorts, and State-level cities and blocks serving tourism and leisure.

Modern tourism requires supply-side structural reform, high-quality tourism products, and integration with other industries, the circular said.

It involves promoting smart tourism with digital, networked and intelligent scenarios and expanding the application of new technologies in tourism.

To incorporate tourism into major regional strategies and coordinated development, the circular urged efforts to harness the four national cultural parks covering the Great Wall, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the route of the Long March and the Yellow River, and the Silk Road tourism belt, among others, to blaze new travel trails across China.

Other efforts include building world-class tourism cities such as Guilin to drive regional tourism and encouraging more cities to list tourism and leisure as basic urban functions.

Tourism development, the circular said, should pursue harmonious co-existence with nature in steadily building national cultural parks and national parks, protecting historical resources, based on general surveys of Chinese cultural resources, and natural resources.

National cultural parks, it added, should seek to highlight the unique creations, values and distinctive characteristics of the Chinese culture.

To advance mass tourism and consumption, preferential policies, services, and public infrastructure should keep up with emerging development patterns such as contactless tourism and consumption.

A modern tourism governance system should be in place for handling tourist complaints to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests, emergency responses, as well as prevention and control of major risks from disasters and accidents.

The plan maps out promoting inbound and outbound travel in an orderly, steady manner, on the premise that the global COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control. With epidemic prevention and control prioritized, entries to China should be subject to real-name reservation of tickets, and inbound travel by cruise ship and self-driving tours should be facilitated with easier customs clearance.

Cooperation with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and international collaboration in the tourism industry are also stressed.

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Tourism and sustainable development in China: a review

• Research Article
• Published: 08 July 2020
• Volume 27 , pages 39077–39093, ( 2020 )

Cite this article

• Chen Haibo 1 ,
• Emmanuel Caesar Ayamba   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5808-6239 1 , 2 ,
• Thomas Bilaliib Udimal 3 ,
• Andrew Osei Agyemang 2 &
• Appiah Ruth 4  

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The adaption of the open-up reform policies in China some three decades ago has resulted in a rapid economic transformation of which the tourism sector has equally witnessed fast development. Therefore, the essence of this article is to review the evolution and expansion of the tourism industry in China and its obligation to observing international sustainable development policies and practices. Indications of the current policy regime, establishment, and institutions, sustainable development strategies to ensure continuity and availability of resources for future use, environmental sustainability laws and regulations, and promotional events for the development of the tourism industry are made available in this article. In effect, this article reviews how the activities of the tourism sector impacts on the environment. The findings show that China in its quest to be a world leader of tourists’ destination has impacted negatively on the environment which by extension affect the economy and society at large. On the other hand, as a leading nation in the United Nations, China has in contemporary times adapted sustainable development strategies to help safeguard the environment. However, more needs to be done in the area of advanced technology and renewable energy.

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Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese leader who held the ideology that the task faced by the leadership of China was twofold: (i) promoting modernization of the Chinese economy through the theory of the productive forces, and (ii) preserving the ideological unity of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and its control of the difficult reforms required by modernization

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This work was supported by the General Project of National Social Science Fund “Research on the Motivation and Path of Supply-side Structural Reform for High-quality Development of China’s Tourism Economy” (grant number 18BJY198).

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Haibo, C., Ayamba, E.C., Udimal, T.B. et al. Tourism and sustainable development in China: a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27 , 39077–39093 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10016-7

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*Forecast. Direct contributions cover visitor exports, domestic expenditure, internal tourism consumption, government individual spending, and purchases made by tourism providers (including imported goods). The figure was not disclosed from 2018 onwards.

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Shandong conference boosts cultural tourism sector

The 2024 Shandong High-Quality Cultural and Tourism Industry Development Conference opened in Linyi, East China's Shandong province, on April 25, serving as a key platform to strengthen exchanges for the high-quality development of the cultural tourism sector.

Shandong has been actively advancing the innovative transformation of Chinese culture and promoting its two cultural tourism brands – Friendly Shandong and Remarkable Shandong – to foster high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industries, said Zhou Naixiang, governor of Shandong, during his speech at the opening ceremony.

In 2023, Shandong received around 820 million visits by tourists from home and abroad, generating tourism revenue topping 970 billion yuan ($134 billion) and the value-added of the cultural and tourism industry saw solid growth of 11.9 percent year-on-year.

As one of the important birthplaces of Chinese civilization, Shandong is rich in historical and cultural resources and natural scenery, said Li Qun, vice-minister of Culture and Tourism, at the opening ceremony.

In his speech, Li called on Shandong to leverage its cultural tourism assets to deepen exchanges and cooperation and to enhance the influence of the Chinese civilization on the global stage.

• Shandong produce seller begs for order cancellations after pricing error
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• China's tourism industry sees strong post-pandemic recovery

During this year's three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, China witnessed more than 88 million domestic trips, about 87.2 percent of the figure for 2019, highlighting the strong recovery momentum in the country's tourism sector.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the tourism revenue during the holiday reached 37.15 billion yuan (about $5.75 billion), recovering to 78.2 percent of that in 2019.

China's tourism industry seems to have adapted to the current situation of regular epidemic prevention and control, with growing market demand and more innovative business models and growth points.

In 2020, the international tourism industry was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, witnessing a sharp decrease of 73 percent in the number of international tourists worldwide, according to the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development held in Beijing.

However, with the rigorous implementation of regular epidemic prevention, China's tourism market has gradually recovered since the beginning of this year.

Statistics show that in the first half of 2021, the number of domestic tourists in China reached 1.87 billion, rising by 100.8 percent year on year. The gross revenue of domestic tourism hit 1.63 trillion yuan, up 157.9 percent from one year earlier.

As China's tourism market digested the impact of the pandemic, new trends and business models emerged. Theme-park tours, short-distance tours and road trips have become popular in the past Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

China's leading online travel agency Trip.com Group, formerly known as Ctrip, released a report on tourism data during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, which highlighted the strong demand for short-distance trips.

A number of short-distance tours are offered as bundles with offline social games, such as Jubensha, literally translated as "script homicide" -- a role-playing murder-mystery game that is growing in popularity among young people.

The bundle is one of the novel business models emerging in China's travel market, said He Jingfu, head of an entertainment company in east China's Shandong Province, adding that Jubensha is bringing more possibilities to the tourism industry.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of Chinese tourists are being drawn to domestic theme parks, including the newly-opened Universal Beijing Resort and Shanghai Disneyland.

The Universal Beijing Resort, currently the largest in scale worldwide, opened to the public on Monday, and was ranked among the top three most popular tourist destinations before this year's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, according to Trip.com Group.

On the Qunar.com, China's online travel-service provider, tickets for the resort in the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday were sold out within 30 minutes, with the first one gone in a second.

The recovery of China's cultural tourism market is also bringing more opportunities and benefits to the global tourism industry, aided by various tourism fairs and expos.

From Sept 16 to 20, the 2nd China International Cultural Tourism Fair (CICTF) was held in Shandong's capital city of Jinan, attracting tourism authorities from 17 countries and more than 2,600 exhibitors with over 500,000 exhibits. Deals worth 437 million yuan were inked at the fair, an increase of 20.2 percent over the previous one.

Among the highlights at such exhibitions are goods from countries along the Belt and Road, including exotic souvenirs that would normally be sold to Chinese tourists abroad. Foreign businesses have been making up for the shortfall in orders by promoting their goods directly in China, thereby tapping directly into China's vigorous market.

Davor Richard, who hails from Ghana, went through a difficult time this year. His family is running a trade company in Shanghai, selling African tabla, masks, shea butter and other specialties that were popular among Chinese tourists before the pandemic.

"My business took a serious hit from the pandemic, but now things seem to be picking up again. The Chinese government has organized a lot of fairs just like this one. Customers are contacting us and orders are starting to boom again," said Richard.

Also at the fair was Muzaffar Bhat, an Iranian carpet seller, who said that the world is now sharing the fruit of China's tourism recovery, with tourism fairs like CICTF springing up again and business opportunities popping up anywhere. While the carpet market is relatively niche, he said the huge scale of Chinese market gives him hope for the future.

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• During this year's three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, China witnessed more than 88 million domestic trips, about 87.2 percent of the figure for 2019, highlighting the strong recovery momentum in the country's tourism sector.

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Chinese Tourists Are Again Embracing International Travel

More than a year since China reopened its borders, some 63 percent of its residents say they’re ready to return to exploring the world, according to a survey published on Wednesday, which Bloomberg previewed. They plan to venture further afield than previously, with just 10 percent spurning international travel altogether — a significant shift from a year ago, when more than half of China’s consumers said they had no plans to go abroad and 31 percent said they weren’t even interested.

The return of China’s travellers has long been awaited in the travel industry, which is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels this year by contributing $11.1 trillion to the global economy. The March 6–19 survey by marketing solutions firm Dragon Trail International queried 1,015 mainland Chinese leisure travellers located in 127 places, including first-, second- and third-tier cities.

“We are now past the initial reopening and well into recovery,” says Sienna Parulis-Cook, Dragon Trail’s director of marketing and communications, “and we can see that travellers are much less hesitant about venturing outbound than they were a year ago.”

As of early April, outbound trip bookings for China’s weeklong May holiday lagged 2019 levels by only 13 percent, according to Dragon Trail, and included such places as Egypt and United Arab Emirates. The China Tourism Academy predicted that global Chinese tourist numbers will reach 130 million in 2024 — 84 percent of levels before the pandemic struck. In 2019, some 155 million outbound Chinese travellers spent $253 billion abroad.

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Destinations that have either waived the visa process for Chinese citizens or are offering electronic visas on arrival include Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Middle East and North Africa. The United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan are predicted to lead the recovery in Chinese tourism, says Alina Xiang, who specialises in China as president and chief executive officer of East West Marketing.

Australia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Italy, New Zealand, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt are among the destinations whose flight capacities with China surpass levels before the pandemic, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China that was provided by East West Marketing.

Dragon Trail’s survey shows that of 181 respondents who say they’ve already made overseas travel plans, 94 percent have booked trips to more than one destination. Some 16 percent said they would head to Europe.

Shopping is on the agenda for many. Nearly one-fourth said they will budget from $5,000 to $10,000 for shopping per trip, with 16 percent saying they would spend more. “It’s a really an important part of the Chinese outbound travel experience,” says Parulis-Cook. Retailers have suffered without such high-spending Chinese tourists.

In the first quarter, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE reported, “Chinese demand for fashion and leather goods — at home and abroad — rose almost 10 percent,” a bright spot in an otherwise-underwhelming performance.

The US travel industry is in for a longer wait than other major tourist destinations when it comes to reaping rewards from Chinese travel. Amid delays in visa issuance, first-quarter flights between the US and China remained 78.8 percent below those in the same period in 2019, according to data provided by aviation analytics firm Cirium. This contrasts with a near rebound for flights between the US and the rest of Asia, just 4 percent below pre-pandemic levels.

Still, Chinese travellers’ poor perception of the US has changed significantly since the pandemic. In 2021, 87 percent said they considered the US an unsafe tourist destination. In March, only 36% voiced that perception.

By Lebawit Lily Girma

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Young travellers are reshaping the tourism industry

In-depth involvement, fun ways of travel, and going local are highlighted among the young travellers.

The younger generation are reshaping traditional tourism as they pursue novel travel experiences, according to travel operators.

Travellers aged between 20 and 30 are becoming the new consumption power in the industry as they seek different ways to have fun on holiday, China's leading hospitality and tourism e-commerce platform Putike revealed based on its booking figures.

Traditional criteria such as delicious meals, good accommodation, nice photos and visits to tourist attractions can't satisfy their demand, while in-depth involvement, fun ways of travel, and going local are highlighted, said Chen Jinbo, founder of Putike.

A hospitality and tourism alliance has been established by Putike and leading companies in the industry to meet changing demands.

The industry is introducing AI tools to improve the quality of tour content and efficiency, said Chen.

A desert resort trip is on many young travelers' lists.

The popularity of niche food destinations soared 133 percent recently with the May Day holiday just around the corner, according to travel review website Mafengwo.

Food has become the driving power of the travel market as an increasing number of young people are traveling just to taste local delicacies, bringing large crowds to non-traditional tourist destinations, it said.

During the May Day holiday, Tianshui and Liuzhou top the list of food destinations for their popular malatang, a street food, and luosifen noodle soup, according to Mafengwo.

The "blue tear" natural spectacle presented by vargula hilgendorfii, a marine invertebrate also known as the sea-firefly, has boosted the popularity of destinations such as Pingtan, an island resort in Fujian Province, by 166 percent based on holiday search figures.

The post-2000 generation has become the main force of the tourism market and account for 31 percent of total bookings for the holiday, according to China's global travel service provider Trip.com.

Novel experiences such as a Muay Thai class in Bangkok and a stargazing trip in China's rural areas are favorite choices.

Abroad, more Chinese travelers are hiring local guides to take trips such as desert safari in Dubai, park strolls in Osaka and a food market visit in Kuala Lumpur, Trip.com said.

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