Chinese Tax-Free Shopping spend dropped into negative growth falling -24% year-on-year in March 2016 according to last month’s Globe Shopper Report by Global Blue.

Schengen biometric visa demands – ease of obtaining a visa is an important consideration for 22% of regular Chinese travellers when choosing a holiday destination according to the report. And, May and October set to be busy months for travel as Chinese tourists take advantage of public holidays.

Despite the recent negative growth, Chinese shoppers remain the largest Tax Free Shopping market, accounting for a third of global sales. Shopping remains a hugely important part of the holiday experience for regular Chinese travellers, as 81% of those planning international travel in 2016 will shop during their trip.

China had 109 million outbound tourists who spent a total amount of US$229 billion on shopping in 2015 according to GFK.

The Global Blue report also shows that the average shopping budget of Chinese shoppers will be 25,902 yuan per trip to Europe and 18,398 yuan per trip to Asia.

Asia is set to be the primary recipient of Chinese visitors throughout the year, with almost three-quarters (73%) of those planning a holiday in 2016 intending to travel within the region. South Korea is
predicted to become the most visited destination with over a quarter (26%) of regular Chinese travellers planning a trip this year, while Japan follows with 23%.

When it comes to Chinese Tax-Free Shopping spend within Asia, Japan was the region’s strongest performer during Q1, showing +50% growth. During this period, Chinese shoppers accounted for 54% of APAC’s Tax-Free Shopping sales. The number of Chinese Tax-Free Shopping transactions in Asia also increased +32% during Q1 2016, indicating that visitor numbers are up by proxy.

Despite the challenges associated with the new Schengen biometric visa requirements and recent terror attacks, 41% of regular Chinese travellers planning a holiday in 2016 intend to visit Europe. France
(16%) is the most popular European destination followed by Germany (8%), Italy (6%) and the UK (6%).

The research also revealed the top five services that should be offered by retailers looking to attract Chinese Globe Shoppers:

1. Tax Free Shopping (65%)
2. Ability to pay with China Union Pay (55%)
3. Ability to pay in RMB (46%)
4. Staff who speak Chinese (39%)
5. Wi-Fi in-store (26%)

Travel, shopping and fashion websites (43%) and recommendations from friends and family (43%) are the main research points for international shopping. For many, social media also plays a key role, either through the brand’s own site (38%) or via inspiration from friends’ pages (36%).

Also read: 220 Million Chinese to Travel Overseas in 2025

A total number of 220 million Chinese residents will travel overseas with a total spend of $450 billion in 2025 , up from 120 million residents spending $250 billion in 2015 according to Goldman Sachs’ report.

120 million Chinese tourists will travel overseas in 2015, with 70 million traveling to Hong Kong/Macau, around 5 million to Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, 12 million to ASEAN, and 2 million to the US; and, two thirds of current outbound travelers are millennials (15-35 years old), estimated by Goldman Sachs.

70 million Chinese travelers who visited Hong Kong and Macau in 2015, where it doesn’t require a passport but a permit to enter.

Only 4% people in China currently holds a passport and this figure are expected to reach 12% within 10 years. The number of travel-ready millennials who will graduate from Chinese universities in the next 10
will reach 74 million.

The number of Chinese residents who will visit Japan will reach 16 million in 2025, up from 5 million in 2015. The average cost of a package tour to Japan is $2,000, including money spent on shopping ($1,000). Korea, Australia and Europe are also expected to become tourist hot spots.

Also read: China Travel Market Overview for Q4 2015

About 64,000 mainland Chinese travelers went to UK in the second quarter of 2015, according to the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom.

UK has made much effort to attract Chinese tourists and Chinese tourists to Britain grew by 33% YoY in Q2 2015. However, although RMB appreciated against GBP, Chinese tourists spending in UK fell by 6% to 151 million pounds (about 1.48 billion yuan).

Chinese outbound visitors are expected to exceed more than 120 million this year. The top five outbound destinations for Chinese tourists all are Asian countries and regions. France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany are among the top ten travel destinations for Chinese.

UK received 7.4 million tourists from mainland Europe in Q2 2015, 1 million from the United States and 152,000 from India.

Also read: China Hotel Search Behavior Overview 2015

About 2 million Chinese visited France last year, and the number was expected to reach 5 million in recent years. Chinese tourists increased by 50% on a year-on-year base in Q1 2015.

In 2014, over 100 million Chinese travelled abroad. Japan, South Korea, the United States and some European countries were popular tourism destinations.

Chinese tourists had made great contributions in French tourism, and become the second largest inbound country of France. The first was the European market. Because of the devaluation of the currency and economic crisis, Russian, Japanese, the Netherlands and German tourists to France dropped. Due to the growth of Chinese tourists, the number of foreign visitors in France could maintain the growth last year.

Chinese outbound tourism to France is still in the developing stage. China would become France’s largest source of tourists in the next few years with an annual visit about 5 million person-trips as expected.

Also read: China the Largest Inbound Tourism Market for Japan H1 2015

The Hurun Report recently published The Chinese Luxury Traveler 2015, for the fourth consecutive year. The report revealed the features of Chinese traveling enthusiasts, including their decision-making process, social media habit, travel trend, sales and gifting preference.

Here are top ten highlights from The Chinese Luxury Traveler 2015.

1. More foreign travels – average traveling expense for past year

More than 200,000 Chinese traveling enthusiasts traveled to different countries for four times and 33 days on average. For the data 33 days, leisure travels are increased by 10% to 20 days, business 13 days. Last year, the total population of off-boarder travelers were 116 million, up by 17.8%, on basis of China Tourism Academy.

2. Stronger presentation of traveling agencies – DIY travelers fewer than 30%

Traveling agencies processed approximately a half of total hotel bookings. China’s Top 12 Agencies for Mainland-based Luxurious Foreign Travels include 8 Continents, Wild China*, Diadema, HH Travel, My Tour, Magic Travel*, Ctrip, Sinbad Travel*, Zanadu, CITS, CTS and CYTS.

American Express performed best in areas of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Top 5 Agencies for Hong Kong-based Luxurious Foreign Travels include Wincastle Travel, Cathy Pacific Travel, American Express, Swire Travel and Westminster Travel.

Top 5 Agencies for Macaw-based Luxurious Foreign Travels are Macaw CYTS, Macaw CITS, Macaw CTS, Hong Thai Travel and American Express.

Top 5 Agencies for Taiwan-based Luxurious Foreign Travels are Asuka Travel, Royal Jetway Express, American Express, ITIS and Lion Travel.

Mr. Hu Run said, “the list is formed on basis of surveys on over 70 managers of luxury hotels globally, which performed by ILTM, GHC Asia famed for public relations in luxury travels in Asia, and Hurun. It’s the first time we created the lists of the most popular agencies in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan areas. “

3. Destinations

South Pole traveling is increasingly popular. According to the survey, the most impressive and frequently visited destination among all is South Pole. The main reason appeals to 49% travel enthusiasts is spectacular natural views, seconded by rare animals and vegetation, 19%, and travel surprise, 17%. Additionally, cruise tour is a hit last year. Maldives is particularly attractive to Chinese rich people, and Australia, the top destination for all the riches, second by France, without any surprise.

Great Britain and Italy are the two countries increasingly attracted to travelers, in sharp contrast with German and Swiss that see a drop in interested travelers. Moreover, exotic destinations like Hawaii and Dubai enjoy the popularity among rich people in recent two years, while Sanya and Tibet are of great appeal among all China attractions. For those traveling enthusiasts, they made traveling decisions on foreseeable creative experience. Furthermore, medical tour is a hot topic nowadays. 60% Chinese rich people have taken medical tours before.

Pros and Cons of Top 5 Destinations. Travelers usually visited United States of America for business and family purposes, and gave a low rating to food. Japan is the primary choice for shopping and earns the highest food rating. Both France and Great Britain attract a great number of travelers for shopping and business, while Great Britain rated higher than France in food. For Australia, it is the absolute right choice for leisure and holidays, in the meanwhile travelers rarely visited the country for business, food, family or shopping.

Also read: Understanding Chinese Luxury Travelers

GBTA expects China to continue to grow its domestic business travel market much more rapidly than the other countries in the world with estimated spending growth of 14.2% in 2015 and 12.1% in 2016. China is poised to overtake the U.S. as the number one business travel market in the world.

According to the report of GBTA, China is to surpass the U.S. in spending by 2017 considering their current and estimated growth in business travel market.

China’s economic growth projections in the near term remain robust, which bode well for a strong business travel market, growing more rapidly than the other major markets globally,

said Stanford Lin, Vice President and Head of Products at Visa China.

Visa is committed to working with financial institutions and merchant partners to offer value-add benefits that help companies and business travelers better manage their travel expenses.

Outbound tourism is popular among Chinese travelers. Some European airlines promote cheap tickets to attract travelers to Europe according to CNN’s report.

Japan has also added some special travel trains with delicious food supply to attract travelers. Besides, Japan’s luxury train can provide luxury goods and food to stimulate travelers’ consumption home and abroad according to Nikkei Asian Review. Shoppers from China spent 18% more on Tax Free Shopping in 2014 compared to 2013 according to Global Blue.

Australia is the top luxury travel destination, followed by France. Maldives shoots into third place. UK back into the Top 10.

China has been the largest market for Germany’s domestic travel in Asian. During Chinese year period, German’s merchants promoted various events to attract Chinese travelers. See more about Chinese New Year Traveler Insights here.

Oxford research report shows China and other new markets will promote global travel industry into a prosperous stage in 10 years.

Also read: China Inbound Travelers in 2014

Business travel in Asia Pacific, led by a dominant China, outpaces the rest of the world, according to a newly released travel forecast by the GBTA Foundation.

Driven by infrastructure investments, exports and service development, business travel spending in China has grown from US$32 billion in 2000 to US$225 billion in 2013, an average of 16.2% each year. By comparison, growth in business travel spending from the US has grown at an annual rate of just 1.1% since 2000.

The report, which details travel spending in 75 countries, along with the top industries, economic factors and characteristics that influence business travel, finds that record high business travel spending is driven by a few dominant markets – namely the US, China and Western Europe.

Currently Asia Pacific owns the largest share of the business travel spend market with 38% followed by North America (21%) and Western Europe (24%). GBTA expects that by 2018, Asia Pacific will have gained another 5% in market share, while the US and Western Europe will lose three% and two%, respectively.

This report underscores that China, along with the other BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia and India are leveraging their business travel expenditures into more economic opportunities,

said GBTA Executive Director and COO Michael W. McCormick.

We expect to see this shift in business travel spending to continue.

The report’s other key findings include:

• 89% of total business spending around the world – totaling US$984 billion – originated from traffic in Asia Pacific, Western Europe or North America.
• Even accounting for concerns over an economic slowdown in the country, GBTA expects China to surpass the US in business travel spending by 2016.
• Italy and Spain continue to slip in GBTA’s annual rankings of the top 15 countries by travel spend. In contrast, BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – continue to rise in the growth ranking, representing four of the top six countries in terms of business travel spending growth. A chart detailing the top 15 countries can be found below.
• Regionally, Asia Pacific is already the largest business travel region in the world, comprising 38% of global business travel. Business travel spending in Asia Pacific totaled $392 billion in 2013 – more than doubling in size since 2000 with a growth rate of 7.5% annually. GBTA expects business travel spending to continue growing at a 10.2% annual pace over the next five years.

This year’s global BTI™ predicts single-digit expansion of global spending on business travel and the emersion of the Asia Pacific region as the world’s largest travel market, comprising 38% of global business travel with two-thirds of that activity coming from China and Japan,

said Tad Fordyce, head of Global Commercial Solutions at Visa, Inc.

As global business travel is expected to continue growing in the coming years, China is projected to surpass the U.S. as the top business travel market in the world by 2016.

The Annual Global Report & Forecast identified other key trends that could impact business travel over the next year, including political activity in Emerging Europe and the cost of oil.

TOP 15 BUSINESS TRAVEL MARKETS

The GBTA report identified the top 15 business travel markets, ranked by spending in 2013. The largest growth was seen in three of the BRIC countries – China (15.1%), India (10.4%) and Russia (8.7%).

Alipay has recently reached a cooperation agreement with Global Blue in which Chinese tourists can use Alipay for tax refund while shopping in Europe according to Sina Tech News.

The details of the service will be announced in mid July. There are over 5,000 merchants from France, Germany, etc. at the beginning and the service will expand in future.

Alipay had started providing tax refund service last year for Chinese tourists in Korea, who only need to fill in the mobile phone number (connected with the corresponding Alipay account), passport number and English name getting it stamped and dropping off at specified post box at airport customs.

A recent Roland Berger survey confirms that outbound Chinese tourism is going to boom in Europe in the years to come. The figures for 2012 are already impressive. They expect 18 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad, of which, 4.6 million will visit Europe, with France alone accounting for 1.5 million travelers.

In 2010, 85% of the 2.3 million Chinese outbound tourists in Europe traveled to 4 countries (France, Italy, Germany and the UK); the vast majority of the packages to Europe include France. For the Chinese, Europe’s attractiveness is a result of three factors: the presence of outstanding landscapes and natural sites, the overall hospitality and atmosphere and the variety of cities and places to visit.

Europe will need to address some issues such as the language barrier and the complicated visa process to countries like France.

Chinese Are The World’s Biggest Tax Free Shoppers

Chinese tourists came out tops again as the world’s biggest tax free shoppers in 2011 who chalked up more than US$2.3 billion in tax free shopping transactions. Each Chinese shopper’s tax-free average spend amounted to more than US$1,041 per person, which is much higher than their Japanese US$681 and Russian (US$461) counterparts.

Australia is the latest country trying to attract well-heeled Chinese travellers, and has launched a new $250 million dollar advertising campaign including new broadcast, print and digital advertising showing key attractions such as the Bungle Bungles, Lizard Island and Uluru.