Chinese travelers increasingly using apps, social media for trip planning, led by Gen Z women

Jun 30, 2024 • 12 min read

As the Asia Pacific region continues to be the growth engine for luxury travel, a new comprehensive report from the Luxury Group by Marriott International has identified new expectations and travel preferences among high-net-worth (HNW) travelers in Asia Pacific. Across the region, 68% are planning to spend more on travel over the next 12 months – 89% among Indians - with 74% planning to travel within Asia Pacific and 88% prioritizing gastronomy as the reason to travel. One in four of all holidays planned (25%) are celebrations. Three distinct new groups of luxury traveler have emerged – the ‘Venture Travelist’ who seeks business opportunities when traveling, ‘Experience Connoisseur’ Millennials who are traveling for enrichment and ‘Timeless Adventurer’, over 65s who are building their own itineraries and exploring places before they become popular.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, June 28, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today. 

Adani Enterprises is planning to list its airport business — Adani Airport Holdings — by fiscal 2028, according to media reports that quoted Jugeshinder Singh, the group’s chief financial officer.

The best part of summer cruising is that there are more cruising options than in any other season. Cruises to destinations like Alaska and Scandinavia are highly seasonal; go in the summer, or you can't cruise there at all. Even the Mediterranean is somewhat seasonal, with most cruise lines leaning heavily into summer and moving ships to warmer destinations during the cooler months.

Vitruvian Partners has purchased a further ownership stake in Civitatis, the leading curated online marketplace for guided tours and activities for Spanish and Portuguese speaking consumers, investing an additional USD 50m. Civitatis continues to be led by the founder and CEO Alberto Gutiérrez, who established the company in 2008. Civitatis is a rare example of a company that has been cashflow positive from day one, built by its founder without any external capital. The Company remains on track to be a future Spanish unicorn, as a curated marketplace for the large and growing tours and activities category, underpinned by a rapid digitalization tailwind.  Founder and CEO Alberto Gutiérrez said, “Our growth and profitability have been fuelled by a combination of highly effective sales channels, well-invested technology platform, and a customer-centric approach, providing the activities and tours in our customers’ own preferred language. Our customers appreciate our expertly curated catalogues of activities across the world, as well as the easy booking and, of course, the outstanding experience that they have with us. With the support of Vitruvian, we are continuing to expand our offerings and meet the demands of our rapidly growing customer base.”

Vitruvian Partners, an international investment firm, made an additional $50 million venture investment in Civitatis, a curated marketplace for tours and activities mainly serving travelers from Spain and Latin America.

Earlier this year a surge of Chinese visitors during the Lunar New Year holiday signalled a thaw after the pandemic’s chill.  And this influx is now expected to gain momentum throughout the auspicious Year of the Dragon, fuelled by a predicted near-doubling of outbound Chinese trips in 2024.  Oxford Economics forecasts a return to nearly 80% of pre-pandemic levels, heralding a vibrant revival of China-Europe tourism.

The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA) has largely stayed out of the headlines in recent years, but the 60-year-old organization said that it has never stopped advocating for its travel advisor members, mostly when they have a supplier dispute.

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The National Parks Service (NPS) is using some words of encouragement — and possibly sarcasm — to warn visitors about wildlife at the parks. “Believe in yourself like visitors who believe they can pet a bison,” the NPS shared on X this week, while spotlighting an important safety lesson and subtly poking fun at visitors who possibly get to close to wildlife. The post, which has over 4 million views, elicited a strong response from social media followers who thanked the NPS for the helpful advice, and laughs. “Parks is not messing around today,” one social media user joked in a reply.  While humorous, the post underscores a significant and serious issue of people getting too close to animals, especially bison, caribou, or other large animals, to try and get a selfie or photograph them in the wild.  In a subsequent post, the NPS directed followers to a post with safety tips and guidance for staying safe near wildlife.  «Many parks require you to stay a minimum distance of 25 yards from most wildlife and 100 yards from predators like bears and wolves,» the NPS shared in their tips.  The guide also recommends that food is properly sealed and stored to minimize the amount an animal could smell food from a distance. The NPS also encourages visitors to report to a park ranger if they come in contact with any wildlife, especially if it appears sick or acting strangely.  Last summer, the NPS issued a wildlife warning and advisory for tourists after several incidents at Yellowstone National Park and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  “Park staff would like to remind visitors that bison are large, powerful, and wild.

If all goes according to plan at IHG Hotels & Resorts, there will be twice as many Hotel Indigo properties in the world.