Chinese tourists have started traveling again. They spend much more than in 2019 and love to use mobile and digital services.

These are some of the results emerged from a study on Chinese tourism conducted by the Center for Sustainable Finance Innovation at Nanyang Technological University for Alipay, a specialized digital payment and service platform that has already connected more than 80 million enterprises with more than one billion consumers.

The study also highlighted some new consumption habits of Chinese tourists.

Among the data that emerged, for example, during the last Golden Week, the Chinese National Day happened from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, 2023, the average spending of Chinese travelers abroad during the first five exceeded the average spending level of 2019 by 16 times.

Italy was the second most popular European destination for Chinese tourists, who showed a preference for the mobile experience at every stage of their travel: before, during and after.

In particular, 84% of Chinese consumers prefer mobile payments because of the transparency and favorable exchange rates are key for 60% of respondents, the discounts and other value-added services offered also play a significant role for 60%, along with the facilitation of expense tracking for 56%, as these methods guarantee higher security and convenience compared to cash according to 55% of the sample.