Cost-conscious Chinese tourists seek affordable options for Golden Week vacation By Reuters

By Sophie Yu and Casey Hall

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese tourists are expected to take longer trips than last year during the Golden Week holiday that starts on Tuesday, but that will not necessarily lead to a boost in spending, travel industry experts said.

With the economy slowing and consumer confidence hovering just above historic lows, they expect many travelers over the week-long National Day holiday to opt for cheaper domestic or short-haul destinations overseas and take advantage of a drop in air fares.

The holiday period has traditionally produced a peak in Chinese travel, especially overseas, given the length of the break. This year, the government has forecast that the average daily number of journeys taken by the nation’s transport sector will increase by just 0.7% year-on-year.

“It would be a good result if tourism spending remains stable compared to last year,” said Liu Simin, an official at the tourism department of the Beijing-based research institute China Society for Futures Studies. “People are more willing to travel when the economy is good, but when there is no economic growth, there is no growth in tourism.”

Wang Xin, an office worker from Beijing, said he would drive with his family to Yangzhou, a city near Shanghai known for its lakes, gardens and fried rice.

“There is no toll charge during the holiday, so we will drive instead of taking the train,” said the 45-year-old. “Better not spend unnecessary money when the economy is like this. A lot of people are losing their jobs and at my age if that happened to me, I wouldn’t be able to find another one.”

Before the pandemic, her family’s Golden Week destinations included Singapore and the United States.

Falling air fares

Data from travel platform Flight Master shows that domestic airfares are expected to be 21% cheaper than the same period last year, while international economy class fares will be 25% lower than in 2023 and 7% lower than in 2019.

The international destinations of choice for outbound travelers are expected to continue to be short-haul Asian hubs such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore.

Trip.com, China’s largest online travel agency, also said the top destinations were in Asia, but saw a significant shift to long-haul destinations such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK and France in this year, with longer stays.

“Travellers are likely to take advantage of lower ticket prices to travel further, stay longer and upgrade to a higher-star hotel,” HSBC analysts said in a note.

While last week’s large-scale stimulus could have some impact on spending, it would likely be limited, analysts said, predicting that purchases could touch but not exceed 2023 levels for the holiday period.

Some foreign airlines, such as British Airways and Qantas Airways, have reduced or stopped flights from China this year amid insufficient demand and fierce price competition from local carriers.

AirAsia Philippines announced this month that it would halt flights between Manila and China until the fourth quarter, with its CEO quoted in local media as saying China’s 30 percent share of its traffic in 2019 had fallen to just 2 percent this year.

AirAsia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There are, however, exceptions. Korean Air Lines said regional travel demand is improving and this month announced the launch or reintroduction of more routes to and from China.