China’s Appetite for Outdoor Travel Increases
Perhaps unsurprisingly, in an age where crowds are deadlier than ever, China’s young travellers are taking to the great outdoors with new modes of travel emerging in the market. Though activities like hiking, camping and sports tourism always had a niche following in China, rising disposable incomes among the post-80s and post-90s generations are seeing outdoor travel becoming a growing obsession in China.
Mafengwo, a major Chinese online travel media sharing platform, has been tracking changing travel preferences among China’s travellers, with recent statistics (in Mandarin) providing a comprehensive view of how the market has changed alongside the tumultuous events of 2020. Insights from Mafengwo’s app show the rise of “小众” or “niche” travel as a key search term during heightened concerns around COVID-19, as a way to travel Chinese domestic destinations in greater depth, rather than the pre-pandemic norm of covering more destinations in one go. Under this new in-depth, niche travel dynamic, outdoor travel has taken centre stage as of 2020, as Mafengwo reports outdoor travel “nearly sweeping leaderboards of the nation’s favourite ways to travel”.
2020 saw China’s favourite ways to travel break down as follows: self-drive tourism was reported as 27.87% of respondents’ preferred travel method, with camping (13.86%), diving (13.12%), walking (9.75%), hiking (7.12%) and cycling (7.08%) in tow. Driven by an increased need to, as the report states, get in touch with nature, breathe in the fresh mountain or seaside air and feel the thrill of being active and healthy, outdoor travel is likely to be a key differentiator for post-COVID outbound travel recovery.
The report outlines another travel trend — night-time travel — that offers overseas destinations a way to leverage outdoor experiences, particularly among higher-income Chinese visitors. Mafengwo identifies the post-80s and -90s segment with a monthly income of over RMB 20,000 (approximately USD 3,000) prefer stargazing camping experiences, while the RMB 5,000–14,000 (USD 770–2,160) income bracket prefer arts and culture-related night-time travel experiences. A key variable for overseas destinations to get this right is safety, which was outlined as a key deciding factor in Chinese travellers selecting travel destinations, particularly around health and hygiene.
The report makes three predictions for the coming years: that domestic travel in and around travellers’ home cities will remain a strong travel market dynamic for years to come, driving up Chinese domestic travel product quality. Secondly, night-time tourism will become a new high-growth sector in the domestic tourism market. Thirdly, in-depth and niche outdoor travel experiences will make significant gains in years to come as a new mode of travel. While it seems that international destinations may well be facing increased pressure in lower and middle-income segments from domestic destinations that up their quality game for the safety-concerned Chinese traveller, high-end destinations may benefit most. Offering tailor-made experiences, leveraging geographic and ecological advantages, high-end destinations will be able to engage a larger and wealthier cohort of Chinese travellers as travel restrictions progressively loosen up.
