Forget the pessimism on China’s growth, for overseas travel at least. Recent news shows that more Chinese are travelling and demanding more services. The stories show that, reflecting this, the Chinese travel industry is taking increasing global market share, developing digital strategies and services, and online companies are pulling in the money.
Even the economy, a key driver for outbound tourism, is producing positive numbers. Just out is that very accurate barometer of activity, power consumption: it rose by over 8% in August.
While the outbound travellers figures are not rocketing in the way they have in the past (from a smaller base) they are still strong. According to the ChinaTravelNews website, travel agencies organised 13.7 million outbound trips in Q2 2016, up 17.3% quarter-by-quarter. Last year’s numbers were up ‘only’ 9.8% compared to 20% growth in earlier years, but they are forecast to rise by 11.5% this, it says.
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