DUBAI, 22 March 2024: Outbound travel from China will almost double this year compared with 2023, just 22% below the pre-pandemic peak of 155 million tourists in 2019 and a USD250 billion spend.
According to research by Oxford Economics, full recovery should materialise in 2025, with the Middle East being the first region globally to benefit.
Underscoring that prediction, Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2024, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) from 6 to 9 May, will welcome double the number of Chinese exhibitors and travel professionals compared with the 2019 show.
China lifted its COVID-related travel restrictions on 8 January 2023, allowing Chinese tourists to travel abroad without quarantine upon their return. Bookings for overseas travel during the Chinese New Year soared by 540% compared with the same period in 2022, according to data from the Chinese travel site Trip.com.
Arabian Travel Market exhibition director ME, Danielle Curtis commented, “Last year, some analysts predicted that the Chinese outbound market would recover to around 6 million per month by the summer of 2023, driven partly by the pent-up demand, especially from young, affluent Chinese.
“However, that rebound wasn’t as great as many tourism professionals had expected. Analysts are confident that this year, Chinese visitor numbers could double year-on-year, with major destinations in the Middle East recovering quicker than any other internationally, especially for luxury travel.
“That sentiment has also been borne out by the latest 2024 Chinese New Year spending data. According to Chinese payment platform Alipay, Chinese overseas transactions were 7% higher than recorded in 2019.
“The most popular Middle East destinations include Dubai, Saudi’s AlUla, Egypt and Jordan — Dubai alone welcomed more than 1 million Chinese visitors in 2019,” said Curtis.
Chinese participation at ATM 2024 is expected to more than double compared with ATM 2019, with new exhibitors that include private sector companies such as Heytrip International, Jiangsu Intelligence Equipment Co, Flightroutes24 Travel Company Ltd, Feeyo Technology and anticipated destination representation from Macao Government Tourism Office, China Cultural Centre in the UAE and the Hongkong Tourism Board.
ATM is also organising a dedicated conference session on this key market in its Global Stage, entitled ‘Capitalising on China’s Predicted Tourism Surge’, in association with Huawei. This session, which takes place on Monday, 6 May, from 1510 to 1550, will explore the changing trends, cultural preferences and the role of mobile marketing and tourism predictions in the Chinese tourism market.
