Chinese exchange trips abroad for holidays at home – 09/28/2023 – Market

Record numbers of Chinese are opting to stay at home for the Golden Week holiday, potentially boosting domestic consumption but disappointing travel agents who had hoped big-spending tourists would return abroad after the pandemic ends.

China celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day from Friday (28) to October 6, the longest public holiday this year.

Traditionally, the holiday is marked by an exodus of middle-class Chinese abroad, as well as a large amount of domestic travel, with millions of people, mostly blue-collar and factory workers, returning to their home villages.

But as the economy struggles to recover from the pandemic, previous holidays this year have disappointed in terms of per-person spending as the weak job market and low incomes have hurt consumer spending.

Most Chinese are still reluctant to spend on vacations abroad, but how much they spend domestically during that holiday will be an important indicator of consumer appetite — a crucial component of the second-largest economy’s long-term growth potential. of the world.

The China Tourism Academy, part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, estimates that Chinese people will make more than 100 million trips a day during “the most popular Golden Week in history.”

While data points to a resurgence in domestic tourism, the overseas market has only recovered to about 60% of its pre-pandemic levels, said Boon Sian Chai, managing director and vice president of international markets at Trip.com, the largest China’s online travel platform.

Cost is a key deciding factor, as the average price for group travel from China is up to 30% higher than before the pandemic, in part because airlines have not yet resumed their pre-pandemic schedules, he added.

Last month, China lifted restrictions on group travel to major markets such as Japan, South Korea and the United States, but Nancy Dai, China market analyst at ForwardKeys, predicts international travel will be 48% lower than than pre-pandemic levels in the fourth quarter, citing visa issues and other factors.