Hurun Report recently published “The Chinese Luxury Traveller 2017” in association with ILTM Asia. The report looks at the trends that are set to come to the fore in the Chinese luxury travel market in the next three years. The analysis was based on the responses of 334 high-end travellers with average annual travel consumption of 380,000 yuan, 220,000 yuan of which is spent on retail.

Some context for the study: according to a 2016 study by Ctrip and the China Tourism Research Institute, Chinese tourists made 122 million trips overseas last year with a total estimated spend of ~US$110bn. The country is now the main source of outbound tourists worldwide and, as a result, a key driver of emerging trends in the global travel industry.

A few highlights from the report below:

• Leisure remains the most popular vacation theme, but adventure tourism (outdoor adventures, polar exploration etc.) is likely to be the dominant luxury travel trend over the next three years. 
• Europe and Southeast Asia are likely to be the outbound destinations of choice over the next three years. Southeast Asia displaced the Americas this year to come in second place.
• Of hotel formats, resorts (81%) are overwhelmingly popular for Chinese luxury travellers as their favourite type of accomodation. This is compared to business hotels (18%), bed and breakfasts (9%) and apartment hotels (6%).
• Luxury travellers are placing a higher premium on comfort when they travel. Besides the domestic airlines, Emirates and Singapore Airlines are the carriers of choice for Chinese travellers (due in part to Singapore and Dubai being important hubs for flight transfers).

The full report is embedded below for your reference: