Report Released | China's Travel Market Demand Survey Report

On July 30, 2024, the "Travel and Health Care, Happy Seaside - Northeast Asia Tourism Destination Construction Series of Activities" co-organized by the China Tourism Research Institute and the Liaoning Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and hosted by the Yingkou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Radio and Television was held at the Jintailong Yuehaijing Hotel in Bayuquan District, Yingkou City. Dr. Liu Anle from the Planning and Leisure Research Institute of the China Tourism Research Institute released the "China Travel and Residence Market Demand Survey Report" on behalf of the Liaoning Province Three-Year Action Plan Project Team for the Construction of Northeast Asia Tourism Destination. The main points of the report are shared as follows:

I. Overall characteristics of my country's travel and residence market demand 1. The combined effect of rising demand and policy promotion has boosted the formation of the travel and residence market

Since 2023, with the opening up of domestic and international markets, and with the promotion of holidays and policies from governments at all levels, urban residents' enthusiasm for travel has reached an unprecedented high, and relevant tourism-related policies have continued to work hard to stabilize consumption; at the same time, the combination of self-driving and health and wellness vacations has promoted the gradual formation of a number of travel and residence combined tourist destinations relying on natural resources such as beaches, lakes, mountains, and forests; in addition, my country's leisure and vacation market is in the introduction stage, which has accelerated the growth of new business formats such as community economy and travel and residence.

2. Traveling is changing from a new trend of “traveling and living for the elderly” to a yearning for a multi-subject shared life

According to the Annual Report on the Development of Domestic Tourism in China (2022-2023), the travel market, which mainly includes elderly tourism and health tourism, has broad prospects. The research team's survey shows that about 60% of travelers are aged 20-40, indicating that more and more young social groups are joining the travel. In short, "the world is so big, I want to see it" has become a lifestyle that young and old people yearn for.

3. “Migratory” travel is still the mainstream of the current travel market, and digital nomads have become a new type of travel group in the Internet era

Through the survey of travel seasons of sojourners, it was found that most sojourners' travel overall showed obvious seasonal characteristics. Combined with the statistics of sojourners' travel time, more than 90% of sojourners travel within half a year, and 63.8% of sojourners travel for 1 month and 1-3 months, indicating that "migratory" sojourns are still the mainstream of the current sojourn market. It is worth noting that the social group of tourism work (digital nomads) has accounted for 11.9% of the respondents, indicating that with the rapid development of the Internet and digital economy, a new type of sojourn has been chosen by more people.

II. Spatial distribution characteristics of the demand for travel and residence in my country 1. The "new youth" in first- and second-tier cities are beginning to lead the new trend of travel and residence.

The research team found that among those who are keen on traveling and living, those born in the 1980s and 1990s account for more than 70% and are the main force of the traveling and living army. Super cities such as Beijing and Tianjin (accounting for about 36%) and first- and second-tier cities are still the main departure points for traveling and living, accounting for nearly 80% and leading the trend of the traveling and living market.

2. Mature tourist destinations such as winter escape, summer escape, and seaside resort continue to develop, and emerging tourist destinations continue to emerge in line with market demand.

Judging from the distribution of destinations that travelers have visited and plan to visit, Beijing, Qinhuangdao, Yangquan, Datong, Qingdao, Dalian, Sanya, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhai, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Baotou, Hohhot, Haikou, Fuzhou, Xingtai, Dali, Lijiang, Wenzhou, Anshan, Changzhou, Guilin, etc. have become preferred cities. Based on the survey results of travelers' environmental preferences, the preferred environments of travelers are more than 20% in the following order: scenic spots (44.4%), coastal areas (37.6%), cities (26.1%), and forests (20.5%). In general, mature travel destinations such as winter escape, summer escape, and coastal vacation are still popular destinations in the travel market. At the same time, Datong, Wuhai, Baotou, Anshan, Liupanshui and other resource-based transformation cities have also become new preferred destinations for travelers. At the same time, Datong, Wuhai, Baotou, Anshan, Liupanshui and other resource-based transformation cities have also become new preferred destinations for travelers. Emerging tourist destinations have provided the market with products such as hot spring travel, urban health care travel, rural travel, RV travel, convalescent travel, camping travel, summer travel, etc. These products have promoted travelers' attention to the countryside (about 13%), grasslands (about 12.1%), and wetlands (about 3.30%), and to a certain extent promoted the transformation of the tourist market structure.

3. The rural tourist source market has a good market prospect, but infrastructure and services have become the bottleneck for its expansion.

The survey found that 13% of travelers choose rural areas as their preferred travel destinations. The research team combined the comprehensive analysis of travelers' survey results on infrastructure, services, and environment and found that rural travel destinations are difficult to meet the needs of existing travelers in terms of infrastructure (such as medical, health care facilities, transportation, living facilities, etc.) and services (medical care, health care, beauty, etc.), which is a bottleneck for their expansion.

III. Demand and consumption characteristics of my country's travel and residence market 1. The overall travel and residence consumption continues to upgrade, but mass consumption is still the most important feature of the travel and residence market

According to the analysis of the respondents' travel consumption, the average daily expenditure of those who have traveled abroad is concentrated in the range of 201-500 yuan (about 41%) and 101-200 yuan (about 29.4%), and the proportion of consumers at the high and low ends (greater than 500 yuan and less than 100 yuan) is relatively low. This shows that travel consumption is constantly upgrading, but mass consumption is still the most important feature of the travel market.

2. Food is the only thing that cannot be afforded. Medical expenses are an important part of the basic expenses of traveling.

Catering and food have always been fundamental in tourism. The desire for a better life represented by food is the basic trend of mass tourism development. Through the survey and statistics on the consumption structure of travelers, it is found that the cost of food and beverage is the largest expenditure of travelers, accounting for 43% of the total expenditure, indicating that food, as a resource beyond traditional tourism, has quickly become a hot spot in the tourism market. It is worth noting that medical and nursing expenses (18.1%) are an important part of basic consumption of travelers, indicating that more and more travelers are more willing to spend on health and wellness.

3. In terms of travel and accommodation consumption, economical travel and accommodation are the mainstream choice of travelers, and owning real estate and exchanging houses are worthy of attention

The survey shows that homestays/farmhouses (43.5%), youth hostels (30.6%), and budget hotels (30.6%) have become the preferred accommodation options for travelers, and budget accommodation is still the mainstream choice for travelers. In addition, it was found that the number of people who own their own properties (18%) exceeds that of high-star hotels (11.2%), indicating that the migratory lifestyle is accepted by more people. Directly purchasing a second home to enjoy local life is the most significant feature of travelers compared to general tourists.

IV. Characteristics of demand behavior and preferences in my country’s travel market 1. Self-media and third-party Internet platforms have become the main channels for travelers to obtain information

Through the survey of people with travel experience, it was found that 62.9% of travelers choose to share travel content through bloggers such as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Douyin, and Kuaishou; 40.9% of travelers choose websites such as Dianping, Ctrip, and Mafengwo; 44.8% of travelers get information through WeChat Moments and recommendations from relatives and friends. The Internet channel has become the main way to learn relevant information. The status of official public accounts and other media for obtaining information has declined significantly, and it is found that travel communities and social groups have become new important channels.

2. Convenient living is a "hard" demand for travel and residence, and attention should be paid to "soft" demands such as cultural facilities

In terms of the attention paid to travel facilities, unlike traditional tourism and vacation, travel consumers pay more attention to the demand for supporting facilities. The attention of basic public facilities such as transportation conditions, supermarkets, hospitals, environment and scenic spots, and urban complexes exceeds 20%, and the attention of supporting facilities such as morning and night markets, banks, express delivery, and gas stations is also close to 5%. Convenient living facilities have become the most important concern of travelers; it is worth noting that travelers pay about 10% attention to cultural public facilities such as community colleges and community libraries.

3. “Nourishing body and mind” has become a common demand for travel and recuperation in the new era

Survey data shows that more than 78% of the respondents are interested in material treatment such as leisure and vacation, retirement, medical treatment, etc.; psychological treatment such as escaping from the world, healing the soul, and cultural experience account for more than 40% of the demands of the sojourner group, and the attention paid by sojourners to psychological counseling services provided by the sojourn has reached 4.2%. Material treatment occupies a dominant position in the sojourn market, and healing sojourn has become a new direction of the sojourn market, and "nurturing the body and the mind" has become a common demand for sojourn treatment in the new era.

Contributor | Planning and Leisure Research Institute Editor | Xue Shiyi Source | China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the author and source for reprinting