Chinese travelers are planning their trips to the U.S. and Europe: are operators ready?

At Arival Activate | Bangkok, which country’s travelers are returning to global travel, and when, was a recurring theme of discussion. While the return of Chinese travelers is well underway for intra-Asian travel, their return to long-haul markets is expected to take a little longer.

However, as we move into the latter half of 2023 and into 2024, operators in places like North America and Europe should expect traveler numbers from China to increase: the U.S. is in the 6th spot and the U.K. in spot 10 — the only non-Asia Pacific countries listed in the top 10 — for Chinese traveler destinations according to 2023 booking data shared by Ken Lau, head of global partnerships for tours and tickets of China’s largest online travel agency, Trip.com.

While Chinese travelers may be returning slower to long-haul markets than to intra-Asian travel, due in part to challenges with flight capacity, “you still, as tour operators and attraction partners, have time to prepare yourself to design Chinese-friendly products in order to win them over,” Lau encourages.