Chinese Become World's Biggest Travel Spenders

London (ots/PRNewswire) -

Hotels.com's CITM 2013 highlights big shift towards independent
travel

China has overtaken Germany and the USA as the world's biggest
spenders on travel, with Chinese travellers spending US$102 billion
on international travel in 2012, an increase of over 40% on 2011*.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120628/540164 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130821/634651-INFO )

The second annual Chinese International Travel Monitor released today
by Hotels.com, the world's leading hotel booking website, reveals
significant insights into the changing behaviours of Chinese
travellers and how the global hotel industry is adapting.

Surveying more than 3,000 Chinese international travelers and more
than 1,500 hoteliers around the world, the Hotels.com report found 75
per cent of hoteliers globally say Chinese travellers now account for
up to five per cent of their business and 45 per cent say they have
experienced an increase in Chinese guests over last year, with the
greatest increases coming in APAC (61 per cent). Hoteliers see China
as a positive growth market over the next three years with one in 10
expecting to see an increase of more than 50 per cent and almost half
(47 per cent) anticipating an 11-50 per cent rise.

According to the Hotels.com report the majority of overseas Chinese
travel (96 per cent) has been for leisure purposes, while just over
half (52 per cent) have also visited other countries for business or
education.

In a growing trend, nearly two thirds (62 per cent) of Chinese
travellers say they prefer to travel independently and not as part of
a group. This development has been confirmed by the hoteliers
surveyed, who say 70 per cent of Chinese guests now travel
independently, compared with a much more even split in 2012.

Johan Svanstrom, Managing Director of Hotels.com Asia Pacific, said,
"The 2013 Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) shows the move
to independent travel identified in the CITM last year is now
preferred by the majority of Chinese travellers. While in-roads have
been made in this area, governments will have to take this into
account when organising their visa application infrastructure and
processes.

In addition, the CITM highlights areas for continued improvement for
accommodation providers. The ability to accept Chinese payment
methods is seen as the single most important offering from hotels and
over a quarter (26 per cent) of Chinese travellers feel this is a key
area for improvement.

Three quarters (75 per cent) of Chinese travellers say hoteliers need
to improve the provision of translated items, such as welcome
literature, websites, TV programmes and newspapers, while almost half
(42 per cent) say that they would like more Mandarin speaking staff
in hotels.

Highlighting a disconnect between the desires of Chinese travellers
and provisions made by hoteliers, a quarter (25 per cent) of
hoteliers say they offer cultural awareness training to staff but
only one in ten (11 per cent) offer welcome materials in Mandarin.
Additionally, globally, just over half (56 per cent) of hotels have
invested less than $10,000** in developing programmes and products
specifically catering to Chinese guests over the past 12 months.

When it comes to researching and booking travel, personal
recommendation plays an increasingly vital role, with almost a third
(30 per cent) of Chinese travellers saying they rely on advice from
family and friends, followed by online travel booking and review
sites.

More than a quarter of Chinese travellers (27 per cent) use social
media to help them make decisions on holiday destinations, with this
figure rising to 33 per cent among younger travellers under 35.

"These insights highlight the need for hoteliers to adapt their
marketing strategies, with a particular focus on online and social
media channels, to attract Chinese travellers. While the CITM shows
hoteliers are making positive steps towards catering to an
increasingly mobile and savvy Chinese travel market, it also shows
the need for the global hotel industry to adapt facilities and
services to more extensively cater to the world's largest market of
travellers.

"In addition, programmes being implemented by many governments and
tourism authorities to attract and facilitate for Chinese travellers
are a positive step in the right direction, but the pace of growth in
the volume of Chinese travellers appears to be outstripping the pace
of change in the hotel industry," Svanstrom concluded.

*United Nations World Travel Organisation World Tourism Barometer,
April 2013, retrieved 16 July 2013, http://mkt.unwto.org/en/barometer

** When asked 'How much money (in US$) has your property invested in
programmes or products catering specifically to the Chinese guest
over the past 12 months', 56 per cent answered under $10,000 had been
invested.

To download the full report in English please visit
http://press.hotels.com/citm

About the research

The Hotels.com Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) collects
data directly from both Chinese international travellers and
international hoteliers.

The traveller's survey was commissioned in May 2013 through TNS
amongst a representative sample of 3,000 Chinese residents in
mainland China who had paid for accommodation on an international
trip at least once in the past five years. The questionnaire covered
topics including but not limited to travel behaviour, booking methods
and preferences for accommodation.

Hotels.com carried out a global survey of more than 1,500 Hotels.com
hotel partners during May/June 2013. Responses were received from
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK and the USA.

About Hotels.com(R)

Hotels.com is a leading online accommodation booking website with
approximately 220,000 properties around the world through the Expedia
group network, ranging from international chains and all-inclusive
resorts to local favourites and bed & breakfasts, together with all
the information needed to book the perfect stay. Special apps for
mobile phones and tablets can also be downloaded enabling customers
to book on the go with access to 20,000 last minute deals. Through
its industry-leading loyalty programme Welcome Rewards, customers can
earn a free* night for every 10 nights stayed at more than 85,000
hotels, subject to Welcome Rewards terms and conditions, as set out
at http://www.hotels.com. *The maximum value of the free night is the
average daily rate of the ten (10) nights. The free night does not
include taxes and applicable fees.

Photo: 
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120628/540164



http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130821/634651-INFO

ORIGINAL APA-OTS TEXT - THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE IS SUBJECT TO THE EXCLUSIVE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ISSUER | PRN

print