Chinese tourists ramp up European summer trips, as Americans cut back
Overall, Chinese tourists are being tighter with their budgets than most of their global counterparts. PHOTO: REUTERS
Newly cost-sensitive Americans may be hitting the breaks on their big European vacations this summer, but another group is taking up the slack: Chinese travellers.
According to a survey about long-haul trips the European Travel Commission (ETC) is publishing on June 10, which was previewed exclusively with Bloomberg, 72 per cent of Chinese respondents say they plan to travel to Europe this summer – up 10 per cent from 2024.
The figures reflect the highest demand from Chinese travellers since the pandemic.
That should elicit a sigh of relief for hoteliers, restaurateurs and other business owners across the continent who depend on big-spending foreign tourists.
Before Chinese outbound tourism ground to a halt in 2020, it represented a particularly lucrative sector in Europe, with Chinese travellers coming in second to Americans in spending.
Chinese tourists spent US$251 billion (S$323 billion) abroad in 2024, according to UN tourism, surpassing pre-2020 levels. That makes China the largest market in terms of overall tourism spending, even if until recently most of this revenue was spent on trips within Asia.
But there's a significant catch in ETC's findings: Chinese tourists do not plan to spend like they used to.
That is notable, given the group's previous propensity for luxury shopping. In fact, just 29 per cent of respondents say they plan to spend more than €200 ($290) per day, a 44 per cent drop compared to last summer, and a majority of Chinese travelers – 54 per cent – plan to limit their budgets between €100 to €200 a day.
Even still, at least 53 per cent of Chinese respondents in ETC's report indicate shopping will play at least some role on their trips, and budgets are more generous among business travellers, 36 per cent of whom expect to spend more than €200 a day.
Overall, Chinese tourists are being tighter with their budgets than most of their global counterparts.
The ETC's survey queried 7,100 long-haul travellers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea and the US about their summer travel intentions – and results show that a total of 11 per cent of travellers to Europe will be lowering their spending this summer.
The overall ratio of travellers spending only €100 to €200 per day – 40 per cent – was lower than the Chinese traveller percentages.
The reality is that in a climate of economic uncertainty, few travellers are splurging – regardless of their origins. That is echoed in data from the World Travel & Tourism Council showing that tourism growth is expected to slow sharply in 2025.
Only a third of the ETC's American respondents are planning trips to Europe this summer, which is 7 per cent fewer than in 2024. And yet another three markets surveyed in the ETC report – Brazil, Canada and Japan – are on the decline, to a lesser degree. High travel costs and plans to vacation locally are the primary deterrents.
Mr Eduardo Santander, chief executive officer of the ETC, sees reasons for optimism.
'While recovery from China has been more gradual than other long-haul markets, momentum is clearly building,' he said. Building back business with these travelers, he added, 'remains a top priority for many European destinations.'
In other words, it's a relief that Chinese travellers are coming at all. BLOOMBERG
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