In this section we seem to go from party to party: in the previous edition of the S3 Newsletter we focused on the famous Singles Day, the great occasion for singles (and not-so-singles) to buy massively online, taking advantage of the promotional campaigns of plenty of recognised brands.
This time, the focus is on analysing which tourism trends stood out on the Chinese market during the past Lunar New Year (or, often misnamed, Chinese New Year, because it is definitely not only celebrated in China).
The China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) investigated the phenomenon in question and drew the following conclusions:
- For a start, at last, this year’s domestic tourist spending as a result of the festivities was higher than in 2019, a welcome boost for the economy.
- Chinese international tourism also reached considerable figures, although not yet as high as in 2019 (reaching a level 10% below the previous record).
- The most popular destinations were Singapore and Malaysia, not by chance two countries that recently agreed to allow visa-free visits by Chinese tourists.
Perhaps most notably, Chinese travellers are gradually moving away from shopping-centred group tours to independent excursions, with an emphasis on activities, adventures and experiences.
Finally, in terms of shopping, the increase in sales (in China) of spiritual items is striking, especially by young people, due to their growing interest in Chinese culture and traditions.
All of this fits in perfectly with the rise in nationalist sentiment that we have discussed here on other occasions and which is favoured by the policies of President Xi Jinping.
Source: https://focus.cbbc.org