Synovate's Passport to the Chinese Travel Market

Synovate has released the first results of its new syndicated Passport study of travel behaviour in mainland China, which it says is set to become the world's largest outbound travel market. The study reveals that most travel is still taking place close to home, and says the time is ripe for international travel marketing.

The world is increasingly open to the Chinese population, with the number of approved destination countries now at 90. Of these, 64 have been added to the list since January 2005, and the number is set to rise further. However, the study, which focused only on the wealthiest 15% of the populations of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, found that the top destinations have been on the list for some time, and that most first-time travellers are heading to accessible destinations such as Hong Kong and Macau, often in a tour group. Very few respondents were aware of international hotel groups.

The top five travel destinations for leisure travel are Hong Kong (61%), Macau (28%), Thailand (17%), Malaysia (7%) and Singapore (6%). Business travellers are most likely to visit Hong Kong (58%), Thailand (17%), Macau (16%), Japan (8%) and Malaysia (7%).

According to Daisy Sam, Research Director of Synovate Hong Kong, the research confirms that 'this is the single most powerful nation of travellers in the world - and it's all the more powerful because many of the travellers are so new to the pursuit'. She advises that 'the smart marketer should be working to capture the Chinese imagination now - and build brand loyalty - in order to set up potentially explosive growth'.

The research was conducted from January to March, 2005. Synovate is online at www.synovate.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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