Spending down in China for 2022 Golden Week, BCD’s Kao tells CGTN

October 19, 2022

In a CGTN interview, BCD Travel’s Jonathan Kao, Managing Director, Greater China, talked about travel patterns from China’s Golden Week 2022. The seven-day holiday observed in early October is typically regarded as the biggest week for tourism in the country. Kao also discusses which segments of the travel market are hot right now in China and COVID’s lingering effect on travel.

Takeaways:

According to data from China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the average spending per person for Golden Week 2022 was down about 10% from last year at CNY 681 (approx. US$94.81 or €97.70) compared to CNY 755 (approx. US$105.11 or €108.31) in 2021.
The decrease was attributed to people forgoing longer haul travel for local travel and activities.
Rail travel was down by about 36% compared to last year.
At around CNY 650, this year’s average airfare was about 12% lower than before.
Outdoor activities, like camping or glamping, were extremely popular, with some packages priced over CNY 2,873 (approx. US$400 or €412) nightly – higher than some 5-star hotels.
Hiking, biking and ultimate frisbee also ranked as outdoor favorites.