Holidays at home for record number of Chinese as economic slowdown bites
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[September 28, 2023] By
Casey Hall and Sophie Yu
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A record number of Chinese are choosing to travel
at home this Golden Week holiday, potentially boosting domestic
consumption but disappointing travel agents who have been waiting for
big-spending tourists to go back abroad since the pandemic ended.
China celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day from Friday to
Oct. 6 in the longest public holiday this year.
The break traditionally sees an overseas exodus of middle-class Chinese
as well as bumper domestic travel, with millions of people, mostly
laborers and factory workers, returning to their home villages.
But as the economy struggles to recover after the pandemic, previous
holidays this year have disappointed in terms of spending per person, as
a weak job market and low incomes hurt consumer spending.
More Chinese are still reluctant to spend on nice-to-haves such as
overseas holidays, but how much they do spend domestically during this
holiday will be a key gauge of consumer appetite, a crucial component
for the long-term growth potential of the world's second-largest
economy.
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"It's not wise to spend so much money," said Beijing tech industry
employee Joe Zhang, who will travel within China this holiday after high
ticket prices scuppered his plans to go to Japan. "I'm disappointed. I
haven't been abroad in three years," the 27-year-old added.
The China Tourism Academy, part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism,
estimates people will make more than 100 million trips a day during "the
most popular Golden Week in history".
Trains are expected to be packed and the average number of daily flights
is also a fifth higher than the 2019 holiday, according to flight app
Umetrip.
The Spring Festival break earlier this year was the first big holiday
since the end of nationwide COVID-19 curbs, but travel was muted due to
an outbreak of the virus.
FLY LESS, BUY LESS
While the data points towards a resurgence in domestic tourism, the
outbound market has only recovered to about 60% of its pre-pandemic
levels, said Boon Sian Chai, managing director and vice-president of
international markets for Trip.com, China's largest online travel
platform.
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![](../images/092823PIX/busine75.jpg)
People wait to board trains at the Shanghai Hongqiao railway station
ahead of the National Day holiday, in Shanghai, China September 28,
2023. REUTERS/Aly Song
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Cost is a major deciding factor, as the average price of group
travel tours from China is up to 30% higher than before the
pandemic, partly because airlines have yet to resume their pre-COVID
schedules, he added.
A resident of Anqing city, in eastern Anhui province, who gave her
family name as Cao plans to stay in her hometown this holiday, as
the monthly installments for her recently purchased apartment were
draining most of her disposable income. "I used to travel farther,
but this year I will either stay in my hometown or go to nearby
places," she added.
China last month lifted restrictions on group tours for key travel
markets such as Japan, South Korea and the United States but Nancy
Dai, China Market Analyst at ForwardKeys, forecast international
trips to be 48% lower than pre-COVID levels in the fourth quarter,
citing visa issues and other factors.
Booking platforms and agencies say Chinese going abroad favour
cheaper Asian destinations, with Thailand by far the preferred
choice after it introduced a visa waiver program.
"If a family travels together, they can save more than 1,000 yuan,"
on total visa fees, said Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager at
travel agency Spring Tour. "That's not bad!"
In 2019, mainland Chinese tourists spent $255 billion abroad, more
than any other nationality, with group tours estimated to account
for roughly 60% of that total.
But retailers longing for the return of these tourists will have to
wait a while longer.
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"I don't think I will spend too much on shopping in Thailand," said
Wang Zheng, 31, another tech industry employee. "The main thing is
to enjoy the beach."
($1 = 7.3030 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Additional reporting by Wang Tao in Singapore; Editing by Marius
Zaharia and Miral Fahmy)
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