A new report by travel technology group Amadeus has a cautious outlook on the future growth of luxury trips taken by Chinese consumers based on the repercussions of China’s ongoing anti-corruption crackdown.
The report, which looked at high-end travel trends across the globe, found that China’s luxury outbound travel market will experience larger overall double-digit growth at 12.2 percent compared to Europe’s until 2025. However, that growth will slow during this time period, while Europe’s will continue to steadily rise. The projected compounded annual growth rate for Europe until 2025 is 6.7 percent, while it’s 5.9 percent in the Asia-Pacific region.
The trend, according to Amadeus, is attributed to China’s slowing economy, but also to a likelihood that Chinese travellers will be hesitant to over-expose their riches. Despite the fact that China’s growth rate will slow, the report finds that industry experts recognize that the Asia-Pacific region, particularly China, is still driving “some of the fastest growth in the luxury travel market” and therefore luxury hospitality and travel brands need to take note of what motivates them.
Among the findings was an indication that the number of business-class trips coming out of Asia has shown the biggest increase over the past five years, while first-class flight bookings in the region have dropped during the same period of time.
Travel brands are already finding ways to adopt their services to luxury travelers like this around the globe. The Wellesley hotel in London uses a WhatsApp number aimed for younger vacationers who prefer to use mobile technology to make reservations and want to talk to the hotel directly and efficiently. In a low-touch case, a tech company developed a chip for linen towels that can alert housekeeping whether they need cleaned so that travelers don’t have to. These innovations can easily be adopted for Chinese travelers, and companies aiming to appeal to them should be prepared to take a multi-pronged, outside-the-box approach to hospitality.
(Source: Jing Daily )