By Benedict Evans
Published Fri 6, 2024
Essential Communications has partnered with China Trading Desk, a leading digital marketing and research firm for Chinese traveller data analytics, for a brand awareness campaign focused on GTR insights.
Insights will be primarily drawn from its quarterly China Outbound Travel Sentiment Survey, for the global travel retail market.
With clients in the travel, luxury, fashion, auto, beauty and spirits sectors, China Trading Desk (CTD) is targeting brands operating in the travel retail market, building on its recent participation within the TFWA i.lab technology area at the 2023 and 2024 editions of TFWA Asia Pacific and World Exhibition conferences in Singapore and Cannes respectively.
“I am delighted to be partnering with Essential Communications as China Trading Desk builds on its Chinese traveller insights expertise to now focus on the global travel retail market. We believe brands can gain deeper understanding of key demographic behaviours from our sentiment surveys, providing the tools to build highly targeted marketing campaigns as Chinese return to overseas travel in higher numbers in 2025,” said Subramania Bhatt, Founder of China Trading Desk.
China Outbound Travel Sentiment Survey
The research from CTD’s latest report, which pulls data from more than 15,000 participants, showed Chinese tourists increasingly opt for more luxurious accommodations and longer trips booked later and later.
The Q3 China Outbound Travel Sentiment Survey also showed the continued growth in foreign travel volumes, revealing Japan return as a popular destination after falling out of favour last year.
After losing its lustre with Chinese tourists in 2023, Japan has seen a remarkable return in popularity, jumping from 6th to 3rd as most preferred destination, trailing only Singapore and Thailand. The surge is attributed to favourable exchange rates, making it an attractive option for Chinese travellers.
Further highlights of the Q3 survey include analysis of Gen Z travellers and their attitudes to spending as well as alcohol consumption trends.
“The ongoing recovery of the outbound travel market remains robust, and our projection that 128m Chinese will travel abroad by year’s end underscores that rebound,” said Bhatt, who added: “However, total travel this year will still fall short of pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when 155m Chinese toured outside the Middle Kingdom.”
CTD said it predicts 200m Chinese pax will travel outside the country by 2028.
Gen Z insights
Gen Z is more spontaneous – close to half plan holidays within 2 weeks of travel (46.8%).
The demographic also prefers travelling 1-2 times a year (67.6%), and has the highest proportion of couples (22.8%) and friends (33.2%) travel, indicating a growing preference for romantic getaways or social travel, likely due to shared costs and experiences among peers.
Gen Z cited Singapore (15.6%), South Korea (13.9%) and Japan (12.4%) as their top three destinations, likely due to accessibility, K-pop culture and diverse tourism offerings.
The top travel purpose was local cuisine (23.3%), showcasing a strong desire to explore local cultural and culinary experiences, while Gen Z’s preference for luxury goods shopping was dominated by cheaper prices (24.4%) and discounts (23.5%); both significant factors driving purchases during trips, indicating a universal preference for savings and value-added offers.
Further, a substantial proportion of Gen Z travellers conduct research before purchasing air tickets (28.3%), highlighting the importance of thorough trip planning via Chinese social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin.
Last minute and longer
73% of respondents said they plan to book their trips within a month of departure, underscoring the ongoing uncertainty and preference for flexibility in travel planning.
The preference for longer trips is also increasing, with 80.3% of travellers now choosing to spend between 5 and 15 days abroad.
This marks a sharp decline in the preference for shorter holidays, down to 10% from 19.3% in Q2.
Alcohol consumption insights
For Chinese alcohol drinkers, price remains the primary purchase decision (68.9%), indicating affordability is a crucial consideration, underscoring the importance of competitive pricing strategies for brands aiming to attract cost-conscious consumers.
The near-equal importance of quality (67%) and brand (66%) suggests that consumers are discerning about the products they choose and are influenced by perceptions of product, excellence and brand reputation.
The majority of alcohol consumption happens in restaurants (39.4%), followed by at home (37.2%); meanwhile social occasions are the top reason for drinking (82.9%), followed by during meals (57.4%).
These findings indicate experiential offerings with a focus on premium or exclusive offers are becoming a significant alcohol consumption driver post-pandemic. “Brands that can provide a unique experience in a special setting will likely stand out to Chinese consumers,” explained Bhatt.
Chinese consumers are more health-conscious in their approach to drinking alcohol, with 37.5% saying they rarely drink alcohol and 60% only drinking occasionally.
Lighter alcohol choices dominated Chinese preferences with beer (80%) and wine (55%) taking the top spots; this is in comparison to harder spirits such as whisky (17%), baijiu or cocktails (listed under others, 15.4%), which underlines the trend for healthier drinking.
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