Where do luxury-loving Chinese Millennials plan to travel?

Born after 1980, Chinese Millennials are growing up. These affluent, luxury-loving consumers not only love to travel – but they are now parents with young children.

The decades-long one-child policy and unique socio-cultural factors have concentrated the focus of parents and grand-parents into raising the ‘little emperor’ of the family.

A survey of over 400 affluent families across China has found that the “luxury little emperors” now play the key role in steering travel destinations: both in terms of experiences, destinations and hotel choices. As just one example, we were amazed to discover that organic menu options for children in hotels were a key decision-defining factor.

When it is asked ‘where do you plan to travel’ and ‘where do you believe is most family-friendly’, Australia and New Zealand were notably popular responses. This is in line with the segment’s trending preference for adventurous, outdoorsy and ‘wild’ travel – with Canada also newly marked as high on the list of places they plan to go to. It also shows eagerness to travel further than they have done recently.

France also remains high in popularity – and what do France and Australia have in common? Wide, sweeping vistas – and wine. With wine booming in China, both tourism boards cleverly emphasize the heritage, culture, and sophistication of their wine as both a direct import and impetus for travel and discovery. The top 3 places in a plan to travel to in 24 months were Australia, France, and Canada. Almost 70% spend over 3000 RMB a night on accommodation (the mean spend per night is 5265 RMB - 750 USD)

According to data gathered from China’s major OTA apps - Ctrip, Qunar, TuNiu, Yilong, Tongcheng - as well as Fliggy, WeChat, and Weibo, sentiment data
of particular country destinations gauge regional differences. When searching for ‘family travel’, aside from the usual ‘price’ and ‘room’ search inputs, what were the further popular search terms?

Australia - Activities & recreation
Germany - Entertainment & fun
Russia - Food options in the hotel
France - Shopping near the hotel
South Korea - Hotel amenities
Canada - Outdoor activities & food near the hotel
Malaysia - Hotel design & style
U.S. - Entertainment & online booking options
Japan - Hotel style & atmosphere
Thailand - Shopping and nearby dining options
Spain - Hotel style & nearby dining options
Singapore - Activities & recreation
New Zealand - Food options in hotel & room style
Italy - Food options in hotel & food options nearby
UK - Tour guide & shopping nearby

The report was published in collaboration between The Luxury Conversation and ILTM China. For the full report, visit here