Technology plays a crucial role in the planning and booking of trips for Chinese Millennials, says a recent study on the travel behaviours and attitudes of the Chinese millennial traveller.
According to Wyse Travel Confederation’s report Chinese Millennial Travellers – An insight into the general travel behaviours and attitudes of Chinese millennial travellers, this group of travellers is heavily dependent on online information, with 60 per cent using online sources compared to 37 per cent that use offline sources.
Travel websites (55 per cent) are the information sources trusted most, followed by online blogs and reviews (52 per cent) and social media (41 per cent).
They also use their mobiles the most to book. While 46 per cent of respondents favoured laptops as a means of booking flights, the number of bookings made with a smartphone or tablet in China (24 per cent) is three times higher than for travellers from other parts of the world (seven per cent).
China was the most-mentioned favourite destination (36 per cent) visited, followed by Hong Kong (seven per cent) and Germany (six per cent).
Germany was also their dream destination (nine per cent), followed by China (nine per cent), Japan (seven per cent), Taiwan (six per cent) and Australia (five per cent).
The average length for international travel is more than three weeks long.
Average spend on a trip abroad was over 1,200 euros (US$1,296) compared to just under 500 euros per trip within China. Chinese Millennials are particularly likely to make purchases in cash (29 per cent), but payments are also often made using debit and credit cards (27 per cent and 25 per cent respectively).
In terms of credit cards, Visa was by far the favourite brand, chosen by 66 per cent of respondents, with MasterCard coming in second at 18 per cent.
About 84 per cent of respondents reported enjoying staying in hostels, and safety (33 per cent) and the lack of personal space (29 per cent) were the biggest issues for those who did not.
The Chinese Millennial traveller is more likely to experience visa problems compared to other young travellers, with 28 per cent of respondents experiencing visa barriers as compared to 12.5 per cent of counterparts around the world.
The report was based on an online survey conducted with more than 1,600 Chinese Millennials in June 2014.