Airbnb China‘s latest travel report reveals that 85% of Chinese residents have booked or are planning to book a holiday in 2021. The “2021 Travel Trends Report” is based on a survey conducted with Kantar of 900 Chinese adults who have travelled in the past two years.
92% of respondents said that travel was the thing they missed the most during the pandemic. 80% of those missed domestic travel for leisure and 49% longed to travel abroad.
Purpose of travel
83% of people replied that travelling with family or friends is increasingly important. Among them, 41% of respondents considered travelling with relatives and friends as very important, almost double the proportion that travelled to tick off destinations on the ‘daka’ travel list or to post photos or videos on social media. ‘Daka’ is the act of tagging or ‘checking into’ locations on social media and is popular among China’s young generation.
Over half of respondents preferred to travel with their closest relatives, while 41% chose to travel with friends.
Travel choices vary between festivals
Travel destinations depend on the occasion and the timing of the national holiday. Almost half of the respondents (49%) preferred to visit other cities within their province during Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming), which takes place in early April this year. During the festival, people are more inclined to choose village homestays and want to stay in accommodation with traditional or local characteristics.
In contrast, 51% of people would choose nearby cities outside the province during May’s Labour’s Day national holiday, and 27% are willing to travel to areas further away.
Over 60% of tourists plan to stay in close proximity to the area they live in when travelling during spring. The most popular locations being “exquisitely designed boutique homestays”, such as tree houses and lakeside cottages.
“In 2021, when people can travel again, travel will be different. Traditional ‘mass travel’ cannot meet Chinese people’s demand for emotional communication and deep companionship. In the post-pandemic era, people will turn to ‘meaningful travel’. We will continue to empower the community with safe, clean and high-quality housing; hospitable and loving hosts; and to provide the majority of travellers with ‘meaningful travel’.”
Xiao Jinhong, CEO of Airbnb China
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