- Most popular travel times are October Chinese National holiday, followed by Chinese New Year and the May Labor Day holiday.
- 91% increase in Chinese traveler spending according to new Global Blue Report
- 57% of Chinese millionaires make their own bookings
- Clothes, watches, jewelry, cosmetics and fabrics most popular purchases
- Shangri-La is most popular hotel among Chinese Billionaires
- Large number and proportion of wealthy Chinese are females, fueling luxury travel figures.
- Emergence of the second generation of wealth, their travel preferences are markedly different from their parents.
- Education is the driving force behind migration, overseas home buying, shopping and luxury tourism.
(14 June 2011, Shanghai) Today the Hurun Research Institute released The Chinese Luxury Traveler White Paper. The purpose of the report is to help international luxury travel suppliers make head and tails of the Chinese luxury consumer and begin to answer the questions of how they are influenced and make their bookings.
The study is put out by Hurun Report Inc., the leading authority on Chinese wealthy and author of the China Rich List, and the International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM Asia). We believe this is the first serious attempt to understand the mindset of the Chinese luxury traveler and is based upon one-to-one interviews of 463 Chinese millionaires and billionaires.
The findings of the report are based on two unique and exclusive studies. First on data collected between April and November 2010, where Hurun Report surveyed 401 Mainland Chinese millionaires each with assets of at least 10 million RMB, among them 45 people with assets of at least RMB 100 million. Secondly, and specifically for this report, the Chinese Luxury Travel Market Special Survey 2011. From April to May 2011, Hurun Report interviewed 62 individuals with more than 10 million RMB in total assets, 60% of those interviewed were male.
The Chinese luxury traveler is now blipping onto everyone’s radar screen. For luxury brands, China is also Number One in the world: either the Number One fastest growth market, or already the Number One largest market.
“China’s millionaires are fast becoming sophisticated and aspire towards higher social status” said Rupert Hoogewerf, “Four out of five millionaires, for example, are thinking of sending their children to study overseas, with the US and UK their preferred destinations. The richer they are, the younger they seem to want to send their children overseas.”
There are now a million millionaires in China, looking for increasingly sophisticated luxury travel solutions. This rise in demand is driven by the appreciation of the renminbi, making international travel less expensive, an easing of visa application processes and the meteoric rise of private wealth. China is now home to the largest number of self-made millionaires and billionaires in the world.
Among these wealthy individuals there has been a surge of interest in drinking fine wines, whisky and collecting art, especially watches and Chinese classical art.
Rising property prices and a fast-growing GDP have been the key drivers for the growth in the number of these millionaires. Property prices in 2010 rose across the country by 13.7% according to a government report, with luxury property prices rising even faster even though the stock market during this period was stagnant.
Millionaire Travel Statistics
Millionaires annually take an average of 15 days holiday of which 1/3 take 10-20 days and 1/3 take more than 20 days. On average they travel abroad 3 times a year and 20% of millionaires go abroad more than five times a year. Although the number of days spent abroad hasn’t changed over the past three years, what has shifted is the percentage of foreign trips that are made for the purpose of travel, up 10% compared to two years prior.
Millionaire females take more vacations than their male counterparts. Millionaires under thirty travel the least whereas older millionaires more often travel for business. Billionaires have longer vacations and almost half of them take more than twenty days holiday a year, thirteen percent higher than the super rich. In addition, billionaires travel overseas more often with one third going abroad more than five times a year.
Preferred International Luxury Destinations
|
|
2011(%) |
2010(%) |
2009(%) |
1 |
France |
13 |
11.1 |
9.5 |
2 |
U.S. |
12.7 |
15.9 |
14.8 |
3 |
Australia |
11.6 |
9.8 |
11.7 |
4 |
Japan |
9.6 |
8.9 |
4.5 |
5 |
Maldives |
8.9 |
5.4 |
6.4 |
6 |
Singapore |
7.5 |
7.8 |
6.2 |
7 |
Italy |
5.8 |
7.3 |
5.7 |
8 |
Switzerland |
5.7 |
NA |
NA |
9 |
Dubai |
5.3 |
5.9 |
6.4 |
10 |
Hawaii |
4.9 |
6.7 |
9 |
Source: Hurun Research May 2011
Preferred Domestic Luxury Destinations
|
|
2011(%) |
2010(%) |
2009(%) |
1 |
Sanya |
24.1 |
18.4 |
18.2 |
2 |
Hong Kong |
18.1 |
14.5 |
10.2 |
3 |
Yunnan |
9.7 |
13.8 |
19.4 |
4 |
Qingdao |
6.7 |
3.9 |
5.8 |
5 |
Shanghai |
6.5 |
6.8 |
3.8 |
6 |
Tibet |
6.2 |
6 |
7.2 |
7 |
Macao |
5.8 |
3.8 |
4.7 |
8 |
Dalian |
5.6 |
5 |
4 |
9 |
Beijing |
4.2 |
6.7 |
3.8 |
10 |
Hangzhou |
3.7 |
5.1 |
6.9 |
Source: Hurun Research May 2011
China’s luxury travel consumers – Key Trends
Travel is the preferred entertainment and golf is the preferred sport. The average handicap of millionaires is 26; the average handicap of the super rich is 24.
Preferred Sport
|
|
% |
1 |
Golf |
13.4 |
2 |
Swimming |
8.1 |
3 |
Yoga |
2.4 |
4 |
Badminton |
2.3 |
5 |
Mountaineering |
2.1 |
Source: Hurun Research Institute 2011
Rise of the second generation-Education is key
Preferred Educational Destination
Rank |
Country |
% |
1 |
USA |
30.7 |
2 |
UK |
21.4 |
3 |
Canada |
14.3 |
4 |
Switzerland |
7.5 |
5 |
New Zealand |
7.3 |
Hurun Research Institute 2011
This new class is highly educated, almost all are educated to university level or above, with more than half studying overseas, mainly in the US and Europe.
Education drives luxury travel, overseas property purchases and emigration. 4 out of 5 millionaires consider educating their kids overseas; the US is the preferred country, followed by UK and Canada. More than half choose English-language speaking countries and the richer they are, the younger they send them abroad.
Chinese Luxury Travel Market Special Survey 2011
In 2010, 90% of millionaires traveled abroad. Most went during Spring Festival, summer vacation, the National holiday and at Christmas. The average number of people traveling together was four and more than half traveled with family. The main purpose was sightseeing or shopping. Eighty percent chose not to travel with a tour group, significantly higher than for first time travelers. Almost sixty percent flew business class.
Preferred Travel Time
|
% |
National holiday |
17 |
Spring Festival |
14 |
Labor Day |
9 |
Others |
61 |
Source: Hurun White Paper on Chinese Luxury Market Special Survey 2011
Preferred Travel Time
|
% |
The millionaires themselves |
57 |
Secretary |
26 |
Family Member |
23 |
Friend |
14 |
Local business partner |
11 |
Local employee |
9 |
Others |
6 |
Source: Hurun White Paper on Chinese Luxury Market Special Survey 2011
Hotel Booking
|
% |
Professional travel website |
27 |
Travel service |
27 |
Hotel membership service |
18 |
Friend |
16 |
Official website of the hotel |
11 |
Decide on site |
2 |
Source: Hurun White Paper on Chinese Luxury Market Special Survey 2011
Flight Booking
|
% |
Professional travel website |
33 |
Travel service |
27 |
Official website of the airline |
18 |
Air Ticket Office |
9 |
Agent |
6 |
Others |
6 |
Source: Hurun White Paper on Chinese Luxury Market Special Survey 2011
Almost sixty percent decide the destination themselves followed by secretaries (26%) and family members (23%).
Chinese millionaires like to make hotel and flight reservations via professional websites and agents, through Hotel membership services and the official websites of airlines.
When picking hotels, more than half prefer high end chain hotels and one third prefer boutique hotels.
When choosing where to stay, brand is the most decisive factor, followed by service, facilities and location.
Chinese Travelers Are Top Spenders
The preferred luxury products were clothes, jewelry, watches, cosmetics and fabrics.
According to new statistics produced by Global Blue, a multinational company specialising in products and services for international shopping and spending, Chinese shoppers are for the first time ranked No 1 in terms of spending on tax free shopping, accounting for 17% of all tax free shopping purchases made within Global Blue.
Nationalities’ share of total tax free shopping spending
Rank |
Nationality |
% of total spending |
1 |
China |
17 |
2 |
Russia |
16 |
3 |
Japan |
5 |
4 |
U.S. |
5 |
5 |
Indonesia |
4 |
6 |
Brazil |
3 |
7 |
Saudi Arabia |
2 |
8 |
Hong Kong |
2 |
9 |
UAE |
2 |
10 |
Switzerland |
2 |
Global Blue Statistics on Chinese travelers shopping and spending April 2010- March 2011
Development of tax free shopping spending over the past 3 years
|
2010 vs 2009 |
2009 vs 2008 |
2008 vs 2007 |
Chinese Travelers |
91% |
50% |
19% |
Global Blue Statistics on Chinese travelers shopping and spending April 2010- March 2011
2011 Hurun Best of the Best Survey + Results
Best Luxury Hotel Brand Awards
Shangri-La stands out on this year’s survey as being amongst the handful of brands reelected for the seventh consecutive year, retaining its title as Best Luxury Hotel Brand. Hilton’s performance is also noteworthy, ranking in at second place. Park Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton also put in eye-catching performances, coming in from outside the ranking last year to take third and fourth place respectively. Park Hyatt also won the Best Luxury Boutique Hotel.
Rank |
Best Luxury Hotel Brand |
1 |
Shangri-La |
2 |
Hilton |
3 |
Park Hyatt |
4 |
The Ritz-Carlton |
5 |
Peninsula |
6 |
Grand Hyatt |
7 |
Sheraton |
8 |
Kempinski |
9 |
Marriott |
10 |
Hyatt Regency |
11 |
InterContinental |
12 |
Sofitel |
2011 Hurun Best of the Best Survey
Hotel Choice - Important Factors
Rank |
Factor |
% |
1 |
Brand |
64 |
2 |
Service |
58 |
3 |
Facilities |
56 |
4 |
Location |
50 |
5 |
Star |
44 |
6 |
Transportation |
33 |
7 |
View |
31 |
8 |
Price |
25 |
9 |
Food |
22 |
Source: Hurun White Paper on Chinese Luxury Market Special Survey 2011
Preferred hotel types |
% |
luxury hotel brand |
55 |
boutique hotel |
33 |
serviced apartment |
13 |
Source: Hurun White Paper on Chinese Luxury Market Special Survey 2011
