Northstar

www.travelweekly-asia.com | 5 DATABANK China's independent travellers are making last-minute travel decisions, sticking to short-haul destinations, staying longer, spending more and seeking holidays that offer relaxation and security. A Phocuswright study has provided insights into the behaviour, spending patterns and preferences of more than 3,000 outbound Chinese travellers. Entitled China Unbounded: The Rapid Rise of China's Outbound Millions, the study (sponsored in part by TripAdvisor) unveiled the changing profile of China's emerging free independent travellers, known simply as FITs. Japan, Thailand and South FIT FOR ACTION WHY CHINA'S INDEPENDENT TRAVELLERS HAVE ITCHY FEET CHINA UNBOUNDED: The Rapid Rise of China's Outbound Millions, was based on an online survey conducted in November 2015 by Phocuswright, a leading travel research firm. The sample is made up of 3,143 outbound travellers from mainland China who took at least one leisure trip outside of mainland China in the last year and played an active role in planning their trips. Korea were the most popular countries visited by China's free independent travellers on their last outbound leisure trips, according to the Phocuswright research. The top three destinations were followed by the U.S., Malaysia, Singapore, France, U.K., Italy and Canada. In 2015, Chinese outbound leisure trips grew 20% year-on-year to 120 million, based on figures released by the Chinese National Tourism Administration, with expenditure reaching US$205.7 billion, according to China Unbounded. While short-haul destinations in East Asia (especially in Greater China) remain a top choice for outbound Chinese FITs, there is also strong interest in long-haul travel to Europe, Australasia and North America in the next two years. Nearly half (49%) of outbound Chinese FITs plan to take more trips in the next two years as compared to the last 12 months, and more than half of them plan to take longer trips (52%) and spend more (54%) while abroad.

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