CHINESE travellers are shedding their credit wariness when it comes to paying for flights and holidays.
According to latest research by payments solution provider Worldpay, 73 per cent of 26-35 year olds (millennials) and 77 per cent of 36-45 year olds (Gen X’ers) in China responded positively when asked if they had paid for their last holiday using a credit option such as a credit card or bank loan.
This is compared to 69 per cent of millennials and 71 per cent of Gen X’ers in the US who admitted going into debt in order to fund their upcoming trip.
The willingness to use credit means that Chinese spending habits are now much more closely related to their counterparts in the US than in other BRIC nations in the study. In India for instance, 67 per cent of travellers had paid for their last holiday using savings rather than credit.
How Chinese and US travellers pay however, remains a world of difference. Only 44 per cent of Chinese travellers said they would pay for their next holiday with a credit card, compared to 81 per cent in the US.
Instead, Chinese travellers prefer alternative payment methods with 32 per cent of respondents in China saying they would book their next flight or holiday using Alipay and 10 per cent indicating they would use the domestic, pre-authorised debit card UnionPay.
“These findings show that – at least when it comes to flights and holidays – China is now very much a consumer-driven economy and is beginning to challenge the US in terms of spending power,” said Phil Pomford, general manager Asia Pacific, global ecommerce at Worldpay.
“Yet the real learning for airlines and travel companies who want to tap into the passion for international travel means recognising that while everyone wants to go on holiday, the way they pay for it varies remarkably from country to country.
“This is especially true in Asia-Pacific where markets such as China and India have long preferred to use alternative payment methods, as opposed to traditional debit and credit cards.”
