China is an untapped market ripe for picking when it comes to adventure travel, with accommodation spend in adventure travel totalling US$$8.2 billion per year, according to findings from Bannikin Travel and Tourism.
The China Adventure Tourism Market Study, which surveyed more than 300 Chinese travellers over the age of 18 who had taken a trip in the past year, determined that 16.3 per cent of respondents, or 23.49 million people, chose an adventure trip for their last holiday.
For a market with outbound tourism numbers that are still seeing double-digit growth, this means there are significant opportunities for adventure travel operators looking to expand into the Chinese tourism market.
The study, which aims to find out how many Chinese travellers actively seek-out adventure while on vacation, further revealed that 2.7 per cent of travellers were “hard adventure” seekers while 13.6 per cent pursued “soft adventure” experiences.
Though Chinese consumers do not necessarily associate adventure travel with risk-taking activities, such as rafting or mountain biking, they tend to associate it with remote destinations that could be perceived as exotic and potentially dangerous, said the report.
Here are the other findings of the report:
Adventure travel spend from China accounted for 0.6 per cent of total international tourism spend.
The top outbound destinations for adventure travellers from China were the US, Thailand, Australia and Japan.
Time in nature, camping and backpacking are some of the most popular activities for Chinese adventure tourists.
72 per cent of Chinese adventure travellers spend between four to 10 days abroad, lower than that of Western adventure travellers.
The full report can be read here.
