Are Chinese tourists spending more or less?

Siam Paragon, Bangkok

Singapore reports lower-spending Chinese tourists [1] while Korea reports soaring numbers from them [2], overtaking Thailand, currently on a decline, as their top destination [3]. These seemingly conflicting headlines reflects the evolution of Chinese tourists abroad: they are not the “same” tourists, they are different groups and different generations each affecting changes in different directions. Last week’s article, "Where is the Chinese tourists' money going?" explains how Chinese tourists fall into three key groups where the tourists to Singapore reflect the receding tide of “Hedonists” while the soaring numbers to Korea comprise the rising tide of the “Wenyi” and in Thailand the growth of the “Traditionalists” has been affected by both the end of zero-cost tours and their uneasiness about pictures of unrest.

Where is the Chinese tourists' money going?

The Wenyi tribe?

Looking past the media hype and the glittering headlines, it is fascinating to find out who, in the tourism industry, benefits the most today and who will tomorrow. No question that Chinese tourists are big shoppers of luxury goods, but do they also spend lavishly in the other sectors of the tourism industry and in other locations than their top 5 or 10 favorite destinations? That is where the anecdotal nature of the media stories fails to match with factual numbers. The numbers are up there, they are big and growing, but the media stories obscure the real picture of where most of that money goes.