This report looks at the following areas:
- Domestic and outbound travel market overview
- Tourism market highlights and outlook
- Precision customer acquisition: travel themes consumers are interested in and the needs they seek to fulfil during trips
- Trading up: travel experiences consumers are willing to pay for
- Encouraging repeat visits: destination types, city tiers and key drivers that attract travellers to revisit destinations
- Business opportunities for destinations
Consumers are redefining their reasons for travel amid information overload and decision fatigue. Destinations can leverage themed experiences to target specific customers and enhance experiences around these themes to drive conversion. They can revitalise destination appeal and encourage repeat visits by tapping into local culture and refreshing tourism experiences.
Tina Cheng, Research Analyst
Market Definitions
This Report focuses on the leisure travel market, both domestic and outbound. Business travel is beyond the scope of this Report. This Report covers consumer behavioural preferences such as travel participation rates, travel themes of interest, ideal travel needs, repeat-visit destinations, drivers of repeat visits, willingness to pay for travel services and products, travel timing and willingness to trade up. Please refer to the databook for detailed information.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definitions
- What you need to know
- Market overview
- Consumer insights and opportunities
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Market overview
- Domestic travel
- Travel spending intentions remain strong in China, with competition focused around upgraded experiences
- Graph 1: top five categories consumers plan to increase spending on, 2025
- Tourism market sees strong growth in visitor numbers but slower spending momentum
- Graph 2: number of domestic trips taken and year-on-year growth, 2017-25
- Graph 3: domestic tourism expenditure and year-on-year growth, 2017-25
- Tourism market sees strong growth in visitor numbers but slower spending momentum
- Graph 4: per-capita domestic tourism expenditure and year-on-year growth rate, 2017-25
- Domestic travel wins favour thanks to ease of inspiration and quicker decisions
- Graph 5: destinations consumers plan to visit for leisure travel next year (open end mention rate), 2024-25
- Mention rates for destinations including Xinjiang, Shandong and Jiangsu are increasing
- Mention rates rising for Xinjiang, Shandong and Jiangsu, among other destinations
- Seasonal scenery, film/TV trends and sports events inspire trips
- Outbound travel
- Global tourism economy rebounds, with China’s outbound travel a core engine
- Chinese participation in outbound travel has risen significantly, driven by Tier 1 travellers, with Hong Kong and Macau the top choices
- Graph 6: outbound travel participation rate, by city tier, 2024-25
- Graph 7: outbound travel participation rate among Tier 1 city consumers, 2024-25
- Visa convenience makes Hong Kong and Macau the top choices for Chinese tourists, while Thailand’s popularity has declined due to safety concerns
- Outbound favourites stay strong on convenience, familiarity and versatility; emerging destinations drive growth through natural, cultural appeal
- Overseas destinations boost outbound demand by leveraging Chinese celebrity endorsements, immersive experiences and a China-friendly image
- Market highlights
- Future tourism industry outlook
- Urban renewal initiatives cultivate cultural tourism destinations, blurring the boundaries of tourist areas
- Continued focus on emerging tourism formats – cruise travel
- Graph 8: expectations for cruise travel, 2025
- Brands need to improve refund and change policies, safety reassurance and pricing transparency to ease consumer concerns around cruises
- Graph 9: barriers to cruise travel, 2025
- OTAs launch air-rail link concept to cover the full journey and expand travel horizons
- As younger travellers increase and horizons expand, private airlines achieve counter-cyclical profitability with low fares and remote coverage
- Graph 10: growth rates of civil aviation and rail passenger volumes, 2024-25
- Visa and route policy tailwinds are making outbound travel smoother for consumers
- Brands must continue to invest in market education to cultivate interest in emerging outbound destinations
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Consumer insights
- Overview of holiday trends
- In 2025, Chinese consumers redefined their reasons for travelling
- From acquisition to conversion and repeat visits: unlock full lifecycle value in travel consumption
- Pre-trip: leverage themes to give consumers a clear reason to travel
- Destination customer acquisition intensifies as travel options for Chinese consumers expand
- Graph 11: leisure travel participation rate, 2024-25
- Amidst travel information overload, destinations must leverage themed tourism for precise customer acquisition
- The value of travel goes beyond relaxation and stress relief, and lies more in discovering moments of surprise
- Consumers in Tier 1 cities place greater emphasis on novelty, while those in Tier 2 and 3 cities prioritise comfort
- Themed holidays attract customers amid information overload, theme parks become the top choice
- Themed holiday drives customer acquisition amid information overload, with theme parks emerging as the top choice for Chinese tourists
- Graph 12: holiday themes of interest, 2025
- Tourists from Tier 1 cities have more diverse themes of interest, while those from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities prefer natural scenery
- Graph 13: holiday themes of interest, by city tier, 2025
- Destinations can link local culture with modern narratives to create themed travel
- Adopt theme park logic to engage younger consumers and upgrade themed cultural and tourism experiences
- Graph 14: consumers interested in theme parks, by lifestage, 2025
- Anime, performances and outdoor themes have become customer acquisition strategies for family travel brands
- Graph 15: tourism activities that the major family target market (a) are interested in, 2025
- Themed experiences need to integrate emotional healing and growth value to make customer acquisition strategies more precise
- During travel: drive spend through consumption synergy and personalised experiences
- Holiday consumption remains resilient, brands must prioritise value depth and supply optimisation
- Consumers are willing to spend on travel experiences like souvenirs and performances that distil local characteristics
- Anything can be an attraction: leverage consumption synergy to enhance destination theme and visitor retention
- Trying new experiences is a key driver of consumer spending
- Graph 16: travel experiences consumers are willing to pay for, by travel needs, 2025
- A thematic strategy should move beyond activity aggregation and instead drive spend through richer experiences
- Leverage technology to provide consumers with new perspectives for in-depth exploration of destinations beyond personalised experiences
- Post-trip: encourage repeat visits by digging deeper into local culture and updating experiences
- Consumer propensity for novelty is not a barrier to repeat visits; the key is to cultivate sustained attraction
- Cultural ambience and refreshed experiences are the core drivers for repeat visits
- Cultural ambience and innovative experiences are the core drivers for repeat visits
- Graph 17: reason for revisiting a destination, 2025
- Natural and cultural attractions attract repeat visitors by digging into cultural distinctiveness and innovating sightseeing formats
- Experiential innovation revitalises natural and historical destinations, making them the top choice for repeat visits among Chinese consumers
- Graph 18: most desired destinations to revisit (type), 2025
- Escaping urban hustle and bustle, tourists from Tier 1 cities are keen to revisit rare natural and cultural destinations
- Graph 19: most desired destinations to revisit, by city tier, 2025
- Seasonal differences and festive activities provide reasons for visitors to return
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What we think
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Appendix – methodology and abbreviations
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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