Chinese market supports the booming retail tourism sector

This year’s China Retail Tourism Development Report shows that the retail tourism sector in the country is looking into various opportunities.

The report released on 31st October shows that, as the preference of consumers shifts from pure shopping to experience-related consumption, retail tourism is embracing more opportunities.

China Tourism Academy president Dai Bin said of the findings: “Shopping is one of the six key elements in tourism. Along with their growing consumption power, consumers are more willing to integrate travel experience and emotional connections with their purchases, which presents more personalised and diversified shopping demand for the sector to tap into.”

What the report discovered

Nearly 95 percent of respondents went shopping during their travels; over a third of these admitted that they shopped more on trips than usual. 

Over 70 percent of tourists took shopping into account when making travel decisions, and more than half of the tourists spent 20 percent or more of their travel budget on shopping, with over 10 percent spending more than 30 percent of their budget on shopping, according to the nation’s first report on retail tourism.

52 percent of respondents spent between 2,000 and 5,000 yuan, while respondents with higher education and income are more inclined to shop while travelling. 

Outbound tourists demonstrate a greater willingness to shop and spend more compared to domestic tourists, with a higher proportion of outbound tourists allocating 20 percent or more of their budget for shopping.