Chinese tourists splurge overseas, impacting Hainan sales
During China’s seven-day National Day holiday (October 1 to 7), 765 million domestic trips were made, a 5.9% YoY increase. Outbound travel surged 33.2% YoY to 7.589 million trips, fueled by visa exemptions in popular destinations like Singapore and Thailand. A significant portion of these outbound travelers came from China’s middle and affluent classes, with bookings from smaller cities also seeing rapid growth. While domestic tourists spent an average of 916 RMB ($129) per person, mainland Chinese tourists in Japan spent significantly more, averaging around 14,000 RMB ($1,976) per person. This outflow of high-end consumer spending impacted Hainan’s duty-free market, which saw a 32.55% YoY drop in sales during the holiday period.