Winners of the October Golden Week - Roy Graff

Roy Graff

The October holidays saw many new records in the tourism industry, as Chinese consumers went abroad in unprecedented numbers. Hospitality expert Roy Graff collected the numbers of winners and losers of the US$ 7.7 bn extravaganza  for ChinaContact. 

Roy Graff:

Europe is still the top choice for long haul with multi-destination efficiency for the Chinese, totalling 42% of the market, or RMB 20 billion (c. USD 3.2 billion) spent just in Europe.

The runner-ups are the United States and Australia on spending. Resort destinations within Asia Pacific region also saw increasing numbers of Chinese tourists. Most tour agencies based in China reported 20-30% growth of trips to Europe and 15% increase for US.

South Korea is a record-breaking winner this year - benefiting as an alternate destination to Japan following negative emotions over unresolved territory disputes. During golden week, more than 100,000 Chinese travelled to South Korea, 36% growth on last year with total spending of RMB 1.1 billion. This is not just on retail. The destination has a niche  and attractive product - Medical tourism, which is considered world class by the Chinese and most surgery hospitals were fully booked during this week.

Closer to home, luxury spending in Hong Kong decreased despite the 25% rise in number of visitors. As more Chinese are buying luxury products in Europe and the US, fewer are inspired to purchase in Hong Kong. Meanwhile Japan was badly hurt by the political dispute and witnessed a wave of cancellations.

More in China Contact.

Roy Graff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

On Thursday November 1 the China Weekly Hangout will focus on eight years of harmonious society under Hu Jintao and what we can expect the next eight years under Xi Jinping. Including Janet Carmosky who will report on the findings during the National Committee on US-China Relations China Town Hall on Monday. The CWH is held on 10pm Beijing time, 3pm CET (Europe) and 10pm EST (US). More on the logistics of the hangout later this week at the China Herald or our event page at Google+.

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