Chinese holidaymakers play on a beach on Haidian Island in Haikou, capital city of south China's Hainan province. Photo: Xinhua
Up to 55 per cent of China’s wealthy families are at their happiest relaxing on a beach when on holiday abroad – the highest proportion among travellers from eight major Asia Pacific markets, says a new study released on Wednesday.
This year’s Visa Affluent Study questioned 4,000 people either face-to-face or online in November and December last year - 500 each from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea.
Each of them, aged between 18 and 55, has an average household income of US$73,000 per year.
Four fifths of all the respondents said they had travelled with their families in the 12 months prior to the survey and also preferred to spend their holidays within the region.
Japan, Hong Kong and Australia were ranked as the three most popular destinations.
Over the 12-month period, those surveyed from Singapore and China were found to be the region’s most frequent affluent travellers, with them taking an average of 3.1 trips. Next were travellers from Hong Kong and India, where affluent people made an average of 2.8 trips and 2.0 trips, respectively.
Rich Chinese families were not alone in saying that they liked relaxing on a beach. It was also highly popular among 51 per cent of rich travellers from Indonesia and 47 per cent of those from India.
A total of 44 per cent of all the respondents said their top pick when travelling abroad was relaxing on a beach, compared with 36 per cent choosing to shop, and 35 per cent who preferred to explore landmarks independently. More than a quarter of those questioned said they liked to try out popular local restaurants.
Up to 46 per cent of affluent Hong Kong families – more than any other group – said they liked to travel to explore landmarks independently, followed by 43 per cent of rich families travelling from Japan.
A total of 32 per cent of wealthy Japanese families said they would follow the trail of food to local restaurants, followed by 31 per cent from China and 29 per cent from Singapore.
For accommodation, 48 per cent of rich people featured in the survey said they most often chose upmarket hotels, and 39 per cent chose luxury hotels, while 35 per cent of respondents said they preferred to choose mid-scale hotels.
Respondents choosing to stay in upmarket hotels were most likely to be from China (67 per cent), then Hong Kong (53 per cent), followed by Singapore and Japan (both 49 per cent), the survey found.
James Lim, head of Visa’s consumer products division for Asia Pacific, said, “Family vacations have become important occasions that wealthy families in the region look forward to every year.
“However, where the family chooses to go – whether it is for cultural activities, kicking back at a resort, or a shopping and dining extravaganza – is highly driven by the types of authentic and discerning experiences that the destinations can offer.”
Source: South China Morning Post
