For China's new globetrotters, group tours are out and Northern Lights are in

Trip.com

08/02/2024 01:00

By Casey Hall and Sophie Yu
       SHANGHAI, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Yuwei Zhangzou represents a
new type of Chinese tourist.
    Last month, the Shanghai-based fashion influencer had close
encounters with reindeer, visited Santa's village and stayed in
a glass-enclosed treehouse during a trip that she organised
herself to Finland. Very little shopping was involved.
    "I was hoping to get lucky and see the Northern Lights and I
got it! I was happy," she said.
    As Chinese travellers gear up for the Lunar New Year
holiday, which this year runs from Feb. 10 to 17, more of the
people who can afford to travel abroad are eschewing the group
tours and shop-til-you-drop holidays that were popular before
the pandemic and opting for more adventurous, experience-based
trips like Zhangzou's, industry experts say.
    "Independent travellers might be spending a bit more on
travel and accommodation and so on, but they may well offset it
by not spending as much in the luxury goods shops," said Steve
Saxon, a Shenzhen-based partner at McKinsey & Co.
    "There's a trend to be more active and that is flowing
through into the types of trips people want to take," he added.
"You don't just go to Thailand, you go to Thailand to do a
kayaking or trip. Or if you go to Europe, you're going to ski."
    While a record high number of Chinese will be holidaying at
home amid a lacklustre economy, a smaller, wealthier but still
significant number of people are opting for adventure, gourmet
or cultural holidays abroad as flight schedules, and visa
processing times, return to their pre-pandemic "normal".
    China's international travel recovery remains a tick under
70% of 2019 levels, McKinsey's Saxon said, and that percentage
would be higher without the United States, where levels are at
just 19% of pre-pandemic levels due to limited flight capacity
and geopolitical tensions.
    On flights between Europe and China, seat bookings are at
93% of pre-pandemic levels, according to the data, independent
travelers, rather than tour groups, driving the increase.
    Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager at
Shanghai-headquartered Spring Tour, the tour agency arm of
budget airline Spring Airlines  601021.SS , said its Lunar New
Year offers for Europe sold out weeks before the festival, even
though prices remain above pre-pandemic levels.
    Trips that involve a chance to see the Northern Lights have
been particularly popular, Zhou added.
    
    SHIFTING PRIORITIES
    Globally, more younger travellers have embraced the trend
towards more bespoke, "special interest" holidays since the
pandemic ended, and Trip.com, China's largest online travel
agency, has taken note.
    Chief Executive Jane Sun told Reuters the agency was
changing its approach to group tour offers to accommodate
travellers' desire for more independence and flexibility.
    "Consumer behavior is changing. So we have new products...
private tours where the family will hire a driver, a tour guide,
and design their own tour. For young families, these are very
popular," Sun said, adding that such trips were growing in the
"triple digits".
    Younger travellers were gravitating to trips focused on
meditation, cooking or photography, Sun said. Trip.com data
shows popular outbound destinations for this year's Lunar New
Year holiday include Southeast Asia, Japan and Australia.
    European luxury brands that relied on big-spending Chinese
tourists for growth before the pandemic have resigned themselves
to making fewer sales to Chinese travellers. Last month, Louis
Vuitton owner LVMH  LVMH.PA  CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony told
analysts sales to Chinese consumers in France were at about 70%
of 2019 levels. 
    "It's not the same customers, fewer groups, much more
independent travelers with a higher worth," he said. "We don't
see the big bus loads of Chinese customers coming in groups."
    For fashion influencer Zhangzou, the less packaged and more
off the beaten track the holiday, the better.
    This year, she is planning a safari trip to Kenya over the
summer, and maybe a trip to Mexico or Cuba before Christmas.
    "In 2023 I went to places I was familiar with, 2024 for me
is about going somewhere different, I want to do some new
things," she said. 

 (Reporting by Casey Hall and Sophie Yu; editing by Miral Fahmy)
 ((Casey.Hall@thomsonreuters.com;))