2016 Outbound Free Independent Travelers Report

White Paper on ConsumptionProduced by Skyscanner and UnionPay Smart

Translated By Dragon Trail Interactive

The report is based on flight search data provided by Tianxun, China’s division of

Skyscanner and by UnionPay Smart, a division of China UnionPay specialized in

business intelligence, customer profiling and precision marketing.

The report utilises data collected from January to October 2016.

The report in Chinese is accessible at http://www.pinchain.com/article/102911

On the Report

Chinese Outbound FITs & Spending Trends 2016

September is the peak

season for outbound

travel and January is

the month when

Chinese outbound

travellers spend the

most.

2016 Skyscanner Search Trends for Outbound FITs

JA N

FE B MA

R AP R JU N

MAY

AUG SE

P

OCT

JUL

JA N

FE B MA

R AP R JU N

MAY

AUG SE

P O

CT JUL

N. online searches

2016 Amount spent and number of outbound consumers

Amount spent overseas in hundreds of millions of RMBi.e. 559 = 55.9 trillion RMB

N. of consumers going overseas in tens of thousandsi.e. 1528 = 15.28 million consumers

20 mill181614

1210

86

60trillion RMB50

40

30

2016 FITs Top DestinationsShort haul destinations are greatly popular with Chinese outbound tourists, whilst

European countries experienced a sharp decline in 2016.

1

54

32

6

7 8 9 10

2016 Top Destinations Among FITs2016 FITs Top Destinations – Year on Year Change

Japa

n

Thai

land U

SA

Sout

h Ko

rea

Hong

Ko

ng Taiw

an

Mal

aysi

a Aust

rali

aU K

Sing

apor

e Ca

nada

Russ

ia

Germ

any

South Korea saw the largest increase in arrivals in 2016, followed by Malaysia.

The UK and Germany saw the sharpest decline.

Top Source Cities for Outbound FITs

First tier cities remain the main source of Chinese FITs, but second tier cities saw the

greatest increase in the amount of outbound travelers.

1 Shanghai

2 Beijing

3 Guangzhou

4 Chengdu

5 Hangzhou

6 Chongqing

7 Kunming

8 Shenzhen

9 Tianjin

10 Xiamen

Top Source Cities

Shan

gha

i Beiji

ng

Guan

gzho

u Chen

gdu

Chon

gqin

gHang

zhou

Shen

zhen

Tian

jin

Xiam

en

Kunm

ing

Destinations According to Source CitiesHong Kong is a popular destination across different source markets and the USA is

one of the top destinations outside of Asia.

Beijing

Shanghai

Hangzhou

Guangzhou

Chengdu

USAJapanSouth Korea

JapanUKSouth Korea

ThailandMalaysiaUSA

ThailandHKJapan

HKThailandSouth Korea

Destinations During CNY and October Week

14%

12%

7%6%

7%12%

7% 9%

10%

10%Chinese New Year

Golden Week

October

2016 FITs Profile

46% 54%

15-24 yo

31%

25-34 yo

33%

35-44 yo

26%

55 yo10%

Age

66.3% Undergraduate

17.6% College

6% High School or Less

0.9% Phd and Above

9.2% MBA/ Master

Education

Gender

Travelers are increasingly young with 64% of outbound travelers aged between 15

and 33 years old. 76.4% of FITs have a high level of education.

2016 FITs Interests

40% Music, movies and

entertainment

15% Health & Fitness

6% Gourmet Food

10% Comic books and games

12% Travel

11% Finance news

6% Photography

40% of FITs consume entertainment such as movies and music, which influences their

travel destinations. A great percentage of FITs is into fitness, which often becomes a key

activity of their overseas travels.

Consumption Trends Vary by Destination

Large shopping malls and duty free shops are popular in most countries, but

purchases vary largely based on destination. In long haul destinations such as the UK

and Australia, accommodation constitutes a large portion of a traveller’s expenses.

Mall

Duty Free

Souvenirs

Mall

Electronics

Pharmacy

Software

Duty Free

Bookstore Food Women’s Clothes

Mall

Mall Tailor

Duty Free

Credit cards 45%+28%

Debit cards 55%+108%

86% Women

16% Men

Consumer Profile and Preferred Payment MethodsDebit cards are greatly popular and have grown by 108% over 2015. Women account

for 86% of all outbound shopping.

ShoppingPayment Method

Shan

ghai

Shen

zhen

Beiji

ng

Guan

gzho

u

Hang

zhou

C

heng

du

Chon

gqin

g

Ku

nmin

g

Tian

jin

Xia

men

2016 Spending Based on FITs Source City

Chinese outbound

travelers from first tier

cities are still the largest

spenders overseas.

Second and third tier

cities saw a greater

increase in the number of

outbound consumers,

but their overall

spending is not as

high.

9 mill

6.75

4.50

2.25

0

Number of outbound consumers by source city

Shan

ghai

Be

ijing

Sh

enzh

en

Xiam

en

Hang

zhou

Guan

gzho

u

Kunm

ing Chon

gqin

g

Ti

anjin

Chen

gdu

Amount spent overseas by source city

40 trillion RMB

300

200

100

0

+9%

+339%+10%

+42%+2% +4% -90%-15%-19%

-1%

+58%

+49%

+25%

+187%+82% +93%

+72%

+129% +111% +95%

Hon

g Ko

ng

M

acau

Sou

th

Kore

a

Ja

pan

USA

Th

aila

nd

Mal

aysi

a

Fra

nce

Si

ngap

ore

2016 Spending According to Destination

Most of Chinese

outbound travelers'

spending takes place in

short haul destinations.

The number of overseas

consumers has increased,

but the overall

amount

spent has kept

constant.

20 mill

15

10

5

0

N. Consumers by destination

Amount spent overseas by destination160 trillion RMB

120

80

40

0

+1.8%

+11.3%+2.5%

0%-3.8%

-5.6%

-5.2%

+1.8%

+28.1%+9.2%

-9.9%+16.9%+1.02%

+46.6%+41.5%

+27.6%+75.3%

Taiw

an

Hon

g Ko

ng

M

acau

Ja

pan

Sout

h Ko

rea

USA

Th

aila

nd

Au

stra

lia

Fran

ce

Si

ngap

ore

Taiw

an

-32.4% -26%-14.5%

Top 2016 Low Cost Airlines

1 Spring Airlines

2 Eastern Airlines

3 Southern Airlines

4 Cathay Pacific

5 Air China

6 Air Asia

7 Asiana Airlines

8 Juneyao Air

9 Koreana Air

10 Hainan Airlines

Top Low Cost Airlines

Most Chinese outbound travelers prefer to fly low cost airlines when travelling

overseas. The top ten list has 4 national low cost carriers.

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