Where Chinese Tourists Are Traveling After Zero-COVID

The Middle East and North Africa are emerging hot spots for Chinese travelers. Among those with international travel plans, the shares who said they will visit the Middle East and North Africa are up 8 and 11 points, respectively. Interest in Europe is also trending up, with the share who said they were “very interested” in traveling there growing by 14 points, driven by gains in more off-the-beaten-path destinations.

These bumps in particular regions appear to come at the expense of closer-to-home destinations such as East, Southeast and Central Asia, which all saw declines since last summer. But the most notable change was observed for North America, which declined 18 points since last year.

On one hand, some contributing factors to this decrease are logistical. While flight routes in and out of China are generally down, connections to the United States have been even slower to come back. Fewer than 6% of the flights operating between China and the United States before the pandemic have resumed, and those that have are prohibitively expensive for many. Additionally, timelines to obtain a visa to visit the United States are long, meaning many Chinese tourists may have to wait months to be cleared for travel.

Geopolitical tensions are shaping Chinese tourists’ travel concerns

There are also geopolitical considerations at play when travelers choose international destinations. Nearly 2 in 5 Chinese adults said poor relations between China and a foreign country would be a major reason to avoid visiting. While this represents a 3-point decline from the previous year, the negative impact of geopolitics on travel decisions rose in relative terms, from the fifth to the third most commonly cited major reason to avoid international travel.  Reservations about poor bilateral relations ranked behind only concerns about terrorism and violent crime, tied with rising worries about petty crime and ahead of concerns about anti-China bias and COVID-19.

China’s relationship with the West, and with the United States in particular, has grown increasingly fraught over the last year, dampening interest in travel to North America. As of June, majorities of Chinese adults said they expect military and economic tensions between the United States and China to get worse over the next 12 months (52% and 58%, respectively).

Moreover, pessimism has risen for much of the past year. Expectations of worsening military tensions increased 22 points between May 2022 and May 2023, while the share expecting economic tensions to grow rose 14 points over that same period, peaking at 77% in March. Although June saw declines in these shares — perhaps from renewed optimism over high-profile visits by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen — the outlook among most Chinese adults remains dire, and this will continue to influence their travel decisions.

ncG1vNJzZmiooqR7rrvRp6Cnn5Oku7TBy61lnKedZK6vrcuyqqKrX5i1qrrErJxmrJ%2Bqv6q%2F06xkraqRq7Ktedmeqahlk6TDqrA%3D