The Places Rich Chinese Kids are Spending Up to $100,000 to Travel to Are Not What You’d Expect

May 31, 2016

A Shanghai-based research firm revealed that wealthy, young Chinese travelers preferred “adventure travel” destinations over more typical tourist vacation spots.

The Hurun Report’s “The Chinese Luxury Traveler 2016” revealed that luxury travelers from China aged between 18 and 36 chose to visit places in the polar regions, Africa and Middle East rather than usual Southeast Asian favorites such as Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Spending an annual average of 420,000 yuan ($63,800) on travel expenses and 220,000 yuan ($33,400) on travel shopping per household, these millennial luxury travelers fly out of the country about three or four times a year mainly for leisure.

“China’s young luxury travelers are seeking a wider choice of unique and novel travel experiences,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report’s chairman and chief researcher‎.

“They are interested in adventure travel, polar exploration and road trips that take them further afield to a wider range of destinations around the globe.”

Based on the survey conducted by the firm, 23% of respondents expressed interest in visiting Africa within the next three years, while 18% said they would choose to go to the Middle East. Last year, only 8% visited Africa and another 8% visited the Middle East.

Seventeen percent of those surveyed said they would like to visit the Arctic or the Antarctic in the future. Last year, 10% of them went to the frigid regions.

In the next three years, a whopping 41% plan to travel to Oceania, a Pacific island region visited last year by more than 25% of those interviewed in the study.

Those who plan to visit South Asian countries fell to just 24% from last year’s 34%. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan travelers also dropped from 32% last year to 19% this year.

The report also revealed that France remains a top destination in Europe for rich, young Chinese travelers, while Japan is their top destination for shopping and Australia for leisure.

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