China Free and Independent Travelers Market Report 2019

Since the “Belt and Road” initiative was launched in 2013, China has continued to deepen cooperation with countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”, increase the openness of tourist visas, meet the needs of Chinese tourists ’outbound tourism, and drive outbound travel to countries and regions along the route. Flights and railways is one of the key factor to facilitate outbound tourism. In April 2019, the information released by the Ministry of Transport showed that China has opened direct flights with 45 countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”. It is estimated that by 2020, China will visit the countries and regions along the “Belt and Road”. It will exceed 200 million people.

Ease of Visa Policy
As of 30th April 2019, China have signed with 131 countries on “One Belt One Road” partnership. Among them, 52 countries have granted China citizen VISA free or visa on arrival policy, 23 countries have mutual visa waiver, and 7 countries unilaterally allow Chinese citizen to enter without visa.

New and Niche Destination
According to statistics, the key word “niche or new destination” search increase by 132%. Most younger generation or millennial do not like to follow trend or existing product, they like to explore.

Safety
The keyword “Safety” search increased by 28% last year. Due to increasing global conflict, Chinese tourist when selecting for new destination, the first priority is to evaluate the security of the destination.

Higher Spending and Experiential Traveling
Experiential traveling is the new trend, and replacing the previous focused activities e.g. shopping ot sightseeing with check list. Culture and history interest is increasing. The keyword “Museum” increase by 41% in first half of 2019. FIT compare to group traveling, tend to spend more.