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RESEARCH

Chinese Traveler Sentiment Report

Tracking Chinese outbound traveler behavior, booking intent, and destination perceptions — published multiple times a year since 2021.

What This Report Is

Dragon Trail's Chinese Traveler Sentiment Report is a recurring primary research publication produced by Dragon Trail Research. Published multiple times a year, it tracks outbound traveler behavior, booking intent, destination perceptions, and spending across consistent survey waves — enabling year-on-year and season-on-season comparisons.

Unlike supply-side proxies such as flight volumes or visa applications, this series provides direct, consumer-level evidence of where the Chinese outbound market stands and where it is heading. It is designed for overseas tourism boards, hotels, airlines, and travel brands seeking to understand and reach the Chinese traveler market.

Each edition introduces a forward-looking section on an emerging industry topic — from AI in travel to cruise behavior and self-drive trends — positioning the series as a longitudinal benchmark for the global travel industry's most important outbound market.

Latest Report

SEPTEMBER 2024

Embracing the Outbound Travel Experience

By the end of summer 2024, Chinese outbound travel continues its upward trajectory with significant year-on-year gains. Dragon Trail's survey of 1,025 Chinese travelers reveals a market making substantial progress — with 16% of respondents already having traveled outbound in 2024, compared to just 4% at the same time last year.

6 KEY TAKEAWAYS

  1. Chinese travelers are making significantly more outbound trips than last year
  2. Travel motivations are diverse, with high interest in events and cultural activities
  3. Chinese consumers seek discounts, but allocate extra budget to food and entertainment
  4. Europe leads for long-haul travel; interest in almost every world region has grown
  5. Xiaohongshu continues to lead as the top destination information channel
  6. AI's future in tourism could be language translation and itinerary planning
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Methodology

Panel: Tencent Survey Panel · N ≈ ~1,000 valid responses per edition
AGE
18–24
28%
25–34
38%
35–44
25%
45–65
10%
GENDER
Male
50%
Female
50%
CITY TIER
Tier 1 & New Tier 1
12%
Tier 2
50%
Tier 3 and below
38%
MONTHLY SALARY (RMB)
0–8k
20%
8–12k
21%
12–20k
30%
20–25k
18%
25k+
12%
FAMILY STATUS
Single
35%
Partner, unmarried
19%
Married, no children
8%
Married with children
37%

Quotas applied on age, gender, and city tier to reflect market distribution. 51% of respondents had previously traveled outbound.

Past Reports

Spring 2024

March 2024

N = 1,012

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September 2023

September 2023

N = 1,000

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Spring 2023

March 2023

N = 1,000

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September 2022

September 2022

N = 1,000

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Spring 2022

March 2022

N = 1,000

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2021

December 2021

N = 1,000

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