Trendy tourists combining fun travel, activities

The trend started to form in 2019.

According to Trip.com, over 70 percent of people buying tickets for concerts do not live in the cities where the show is staged. Transportation and accommodation are bigger challenges for aficionados if the concert is held elsewhere. Therefore, packages combining events, transportation, hotels and holidays have been rolled out, which are especially popular among the younger generation.

When South Korean celebrity Lee Ji-eun, popularly known as IU, held a concert in Hong Kong in May last year, Trip.com rolled out a package by combining the concert, which is modern art, with a traditional folk art performances in Cheung Chau, an outlying island of Hong Kong.

Up to 23 percent of the overseas concertgoers extended their stay in Hong Kong to experience the traditional art.

"Travel is about building emotional connections. The focus on events and performances has reflected the undergoing transition in the Chinese tourism industry, showing the greater importance that tourists attach to sightseeing and experiences," said Sun Bo, chief marketing officer at Trip.com.

Indeed, the stress on events is one of the so-called "3E" trends in the tourism industry. The rising contribution of the "elderly" group should not be overlooked, said Jane Sun of Trip.com.

She said Chinese residents retire relatively earlier compared to their average life expectancy. Because they have comparatively higher budgets and are less time sensitive, this age group has shown a strong curiosity to explore the world.

More importantly, they bring income to tourist destinations and hotels during the slow season, she said.

Qiao Chengwei, product manager for domestic itineraries at online travel agency Tuniu.com, said the 50 and above age group accounted for nearly 40 percent of trips made from Oct 8 to Oct 31 last year, which was after the National Day holiday period.

According to a report released jointly by China Insights Consultancy and adult-targeted online learning service provider QuantaSing Group Ltd in October, about 17.6 percent of senior groups in China made at least three trips every year, while another 40.8 percent would travel once or twice a year.

By the end of this year, there will be over 100 million healthy elderly Chinese who make frequent trips and consume more during their travel, experts from China Tourism Academy have estimated. That would be nearly one-third of the total aging population of the country.

"The elderly in China, born in the 1960s or 1970s, are significantly different from their previous generations in terms of income, academic background and consumption habits. Not only do they have a strong willingness to travel around, but they also have the ability to do that. The optimization of transportation networks and other infrastructure have largely facilitated their outbound reach," said Gu Huimin, a professor from the School of Tourism Sciences at Beijing International Studies University.

The third trend starting with "E", as Trip.com has discovered, is Chinese tourists' deeper reach into "emerging" markets such as Norway, as well as South Africa, Tunisia and Morocco in Africa.

In 2024, about 106,483 Chinese tourists visited Morocco, up about 78 percent from a year earlier. After the launch of direct flights from Beijing and Shanghai to Morocco, an additional 100,000 Chinese visitors will be brought to the country via the new routes in 2025, raising annual arrivals to 250,000, the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) has estimated.

To further capitalize on the outbound Chinese tourism industry, ONMT launched in February its first-ever road show in Beijing. During the annual travel trade fair ITB China held in Shanghai last month, ONMT's booth was the second largest in size.

All these reflect Morocco's continued confidence and focus on tapping into the potential of the Chinese market, said Hicham Bellaziz, ONMT's chief representative in China.

As the country will jointly host the FIFA World Cup 2030 with Spain and Portugal, it will be another good chance, or a key event as defined by Trip.com, to solicit more Chinese tourists, said Bellaziz.