9 Chinese Outbound Travel Trends of 2024

We are now at the end of the first year with no restrictions on Chinese outbound tourism since 2019. The world, and the Chinese travel market, have changed considerably since then, but sustained appetite for outbound travel has supported the continued recovery of the market in 2024. To take a broad view of what China’s post-pandemic outbound travel market looks like, let’s look at 9 of the top trends that defined the year.

1. Visa relaxation fueled travel demand
The recovery of China’s outbound travel market is quite varied among different destinations, and there is a strong correlation between tourism arrivals and relaxed visa policies. Malaysia, which became visa-free for Chinese tourists at the end of 2023, is the star of the show – by the end of September, Chinese arrivals were 5% ahead of the same period in 2019, and that was before October’s Golden Week holiday. Singapore, which went visa-free just before Chinese New Year 2024, has also achieved full recovery. In Europe, the only country that had more Chinese tourists in 2024 than in 2019 is Serbia – also visa-free. Other visa-free destinations like the UAE and Georgia also saw strong results.

Not all countries will be able to totally abolish visas for Chinese tourists, but even visa reform can have a major impact. Australia introduced a new five-year, multiple-entry visa for Chinese visitors at the end of June 2024. Within a month, data from ForwardKeys shows that international flight departures from China to Australia were up by 48% compared to the month before. Three months later, the quarter-on-quarter increase in flight passengers from China to Australia was up by 65%.

As of December 2024, it’s been reported in the Japanese media that Japan is now looking at ways to simplify the visa application process for Chinese visitors.

2. Japan became the top shopping destination
Despite continuing to require Chinese tourists to apply for visas, Japan is one of the best performing destinations for Chinese tourism recovery, and has been the leading outbound destination for Chinese since May. In the first nine months of 2024, Chinese arrivals to Japan reached 5.2 million, marking a 228% increase compared to the previous year. One of the key drivers of this surge is Japan’s exchange rate, which has made the country much less expensive for international visitors and made it a shopping hotspot for Chinese visitors. According to data from Global Blue, Chinese tax-free spending in Japan in May 2024 was at 258% of pre-pandemic levels, and accounted for a staggering 64% of all Chinese tax-free spending for the May holiday period. This spending spree continued, with Chinese tourists spending JPY 517.7 billion ($3.4 billion) in the third quarter – around 27% of total international tourist spending.

3. Travel confidence is back
Chinese outbound travel recovery got off to a slower-than-expected start in 2023 when the country finally ended COVID-related restrictions. The reasons behind these included lagging flight capacity and delayed visa services, as well as lingering fears about COVID infection at the start of the year. By the second half of 2023, Dragon Trail’s consumer research found that concerns about COVID had already declined considerably, and this year we can see much higher consumer confidence and intention to travel outbound. As of August 2024, 16% of survey respondents had already taken an outbound trip, and another 17% had an outbound trip booked, compared to just 4% and 9% at this time last year. Of those who have already traveled outbound in 2024, 60% have taken at least two outbound trips. Those who said they would definitely not travel outbound in the remainder of the year dropped from 20% in September 2023 to 12% in September 2024.

4. FITs are driving recovery
Across Europe, destinations report that it’s Chinese group tours that are lagging, while FITs are driving recovery. According to statistics from Atout France, 52% of Chinese tourists applying for French visas in 2024 are independent travelers, vs. 39% in 2019. At the same time, the number of group tourists has dropped significantly to 22% in 2024, compared to 47% in 2019. Tourism professionals in the UK, Austria, and Italy all report similar phenomena.

Comparing October Golden Week travel bookings, ForwardKeys’ data shows a 53% decline in group (6+ pax) flight bookings for long-haul destinations in 2024 compared to 2019, with a 43% decline for short-haul trips. In contrast, solo flight bookings were up by 4% for short-haul destinations and only 2% behind for couples; for long-haul destinations, single bookings were down just 7%, and 19% behind for couples.

This is the latest stage in a long-term shift towards FIT in the Chinese outbound travel market, which started long before COVID. Another long-term trend is that within the group tourism market, there is also continued movement away from traditional large group travel, and towards smaller groups and personalized tours.

5. Consumption trends: High spenders and value seekers
As the proportion of independent travelers has increased, so has the average spend. This is being reported by both the hospitality and retail sectors in Europe, who say that Chinese FITs are staying at higher-end hotels, making longer trips, and making larger purchases when they shop.

At the same time, slower growth in China’s economy has meant that Chinese outbound travelers – while still prioritizing travel as an expense category – are seeking out good deals and value for money. Chinese travelers are willing to spend, but they’re more price conscious and more demanding about what they get in return for their money.

6. Xiaohongshu’s influence on travel continues to grow
Social media platform Xiaohongshu continued to grow as a source of information and inspiration on overseas travel in 2024. In Dragon Trail’s August 2024 Chinese traveler survey, 57% of respondents said they used Xiaohongshu as a source of outbound travel destination information, up from 52% in March 2024. Platform data for the past three years shows an annual increase in searches for overseas travel on Xiaohongshu, with a 107% year on year increase as of May 2024, equal to 499 million searches.

Recognizing its own importance for Chinese outbound travel and the opportunities for overseas travel brands, Xiaohongshu opened an overseas travel department in the second half of 2023 and can now offer support on media buy campaigns and other initiatives. Also recognizing Xiaohongshu’s growing relevance for overseas travel brands, Dragon Trail launched our Xiaohongshu rankings for destinations, airlines, cruise lines, attractions, and hotels from Q4 2023, with quarterly reports released throughout 2024.

Click here to read our article on top Xiaohongshu trends for travel, based on our August 2024 webinar on Xiaohongshu for Tourism Marketing.

Thinking about marketing on Xiaohongshu in 2025? Dragon Trail’s social media team is experienced in Xiaohongshu account management for overseas destinations, hotels, and attractions, as well as in KOL marketing. Contact us to discuss how we can help.

7. Chinese airlines are dominating the long-haul market
As of December 2024, flight capacity between China and international destinations has recovered to 76.5% of what it was in 2019 (data: Flight Master). But for the long-haul market especially, there are major changes in connectivity. Because of the war in Ukraine, European and North American carriers are banned from Russian airspace, and this significantly lengthens flight times to China. Therefore, these international carriers are less competitive compared to Chinese airlines, which are not restricted from Russian airspace and can operate shorter, faster, cheaper flights as a result. A number of European carriers, including SAS, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and LOT, have suspended some or all China routes. At the same time, Chinese airlines have been rapidly adding new routes. Chinese airlines now handle 82% of flights between China and Europe, up from 56% pre-pandemic. In North America, the US and Canadian governments have both restricted Chinese carriers to protect their own airlines, leading to severely lagging flight capacity recovery. However, the lifting of flight restrictions by the Canadian government at the end of October should help to improve this situation as we head into 2025.

8. Event travel
With experiences now so important to travelers, live events are motivating Chinese consumers to book trips abroad, from pop concerts and major sporting events, to museum exhibitions and cultural festivals. Dragon Trail’s August 2024 sentiment survey revealed that 70% of surveyed outbound travelers had previously attended an event or participated in a cultural activity while on an overseas trip. This trend looks set to continue, with Airbnb recently reporting that Chinese searches for properties in Melbourne increased by nine times during the 2025 Australian Open tennis tournament.

Tourism destinations and businesses are also well aware of the draw of big events and their huge potential. We regularly see concerts promoted by the Macau Government Tourism Organization, Hong Kong Tourism Board, and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands on Chinese social media, for example. In November 2024, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau even brought the Philadelphia Orchestra with them on a visit to China to promote Philadelphia tourism.

9. Growth from lower tier markets
While the majority of Chinese outbound travelers still come from the traditional first-tier city markets of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, growth is considerably stronger from lower-tier city markets. Ctrip reported that for the October National Day holiday, outbound travel bookings had doubled from fourth tier cities, and quadrupled from fifth tier cities. Qunar reported similar results, with bookings from third tier cities and below up by 2.5 times, and making up 19% of total outbound travel bookings for the October holiday. According to Qunar’s bookings data, outbound travelers from lower tier Chinese cities tended to be younger (70% were under 33) and have a shorter booking window (58 days in advance). Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in southern China were home to the fastest-growing lower-tier cities for outbound travel on Qunar, followed by cities in Zhejiang and Jianxi provinces in the east.

“New first-tier” cities are also worth watching – ForwardKeys’ 2024 Golden Week data showed that Hangzhou was the best performing city for outbound flight bookings, up by 55% above pre-pandemic levels, while Nanjing was also up by 12%.

Looking ahead to 2025, how are you adapting your China marketing strategy to these new trends? Contact Dragon Trail to discuss your plans, and find out how we can support you with our full suite of marketing solutions, including digital marketing, events, travel agent training, market representation, research, and strategy consulting.