China’s glitzy globetrotters – guided by their smartphones throughout their travels – are now taking the world by storm.

Around 56 percent of China’s high-net-worth individuals surveyed by the Hurun Report in 2014 say they like to spend their leisure time exploring new countries and experiencing different cultures. These travellers plan 18-day trips on average, spending around U.S. $150,000 per trip.

“Experiential travel rather than just shopping tours are becoming more popular now that the Chinese consumer has traveled more widely,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher.

According to a 2016 report, Asian investment bank Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia (CLSA) has forecasted around 200 million Chinese will take overseas trips by 2020. In their annual travel survey, CLSA researchers have found around 71 percent of Chinese have sought travel inspiration via social media sites such as WeChat and Weibo. Others sought out information about their dream destinations by consulting with their friends and family.

 

Maldives: The Gucci Handbag of Holidays

Maldives has soared in popularity among China’s super rich in the past couple of years because of its white, sandy beaches, deep blue seas, tall palm trees and numerous reefs. Chinese travellers are setting their sights on the Maldives as a destination-wedding site and for their honeymoons.

“The Maldives is the Gucci handbag of holidays,” Mifzal Ahmed, director for strategy and business development at Mega Maldives Airlines, a private carrier that caters almost exclusively to Chinese tourists, told the South China Morning Post in January 2015. “People want to have a better answer if friends ask them: 'What will you do during Chinese New Year?’”

Due to its tropical climate, the Maldives is an all-year destination, Mohamed Faisal, Maldivian ambassador to China told China Daily in January 2016. Maldivian authorities are forecasting around half a million Chinese will visit the country in 2016 to experience its unique culture with Arabian, Sinhalese and South Indian influences.

Malé, Maldives’ capital and its most populous city, is home to the majority of its cultural attractions like the presidential palace, Sultan Park, the National Museum and the Malé fish market.

Resorts across the archipelago paradise are catering to their Chinese clientele by developing itineraries jam-packed with activities like fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling and surfing.

They are also offering small guesthouses on uninhabited islands with private pools, along with safari boats designed like a hotel on the sea. Currently, the country has 180 safari boats, and construction workers are building an additional 40 safari boats per year to meet demand. These all-inclusive rooms cost around U.S. $200 a night.

Booking an island getaway has never been easier, as airlines continue to increase the number of direct flights between Maldives and mainland China – including Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Macau, Shenyang and Zhengzhou – each year. Chinese tourists do not need a visa to visit Maldives’ thousands of islands.

 

Antarctica: Take the Polar Plunge

Antarctica was the destination of choice in 2015 for Chinese super travellers, according to the 2015 Hurun Report. The South Pole may be one of the last frontiers of travel, but Chinese tourists currently make up one in every 11 arrivals to the icy continent, travel guide publisher Lonely Planet reported in February 2016.

Approximately 34 percent of wealthy respondents who went to the South Pole over Spring Festival in 2015 said in the Hurun annual report they wanted experience its magnificent crystal desert landscape and its rare wildlife. The travel season to the continent runs from November to March.

“The recent popularity of Antarctica for the Chinese traveller shows how much experiential travel is now on the cards,” Hoogewerf said.

Travelling to the seventh continent may be the most arduous part of the journey. Most vacationers arrive by boat through the Drake Passage, a treacherous stretch of ocean between the southern tip of South America and the northernmost reaches of Antarctica.

As a land of extremes, Antarctica offers all travellers plenty of opportunities to play in the snow, mingle with penguins, swim in its icy waters near Deception Island, kayak around icebergs and hike its stunning glaciers.

Travellers do not need either a visa or a passport to visit Antarctica because no nation owns the land.

 

African Safaris: Stray off the Beaten Path

African countries have seen a major boost in Chinese tourism revenue since the beginning of the decade, thanks to increased investment, more direct flights, and strong promotional efforts by African tourism boards.



South Africa saw a huge increase of Chinese tourists in January 2016, as arrivals from China grew by 93 percent, according to data from Statistics South Africa. To accommodate this trend, South African tour companies have added Mandarin-speaking guides and have translated their promotional materials into Chinese.

According to Kim Nixon, managing director of Asia to Africa Safaris based in Singapore, safaris are becoming more popular with mainland Chinese clients, as they continue to seek unique travel experiences. “There has been a rapidly emerging interest in more adventurous and eco-tourism focused travel to high-quality, safari hotspot African countries from the Chinese market.”

All safari first-timers from China want to see a variety of animals, Nixon added. Some clamour for walking safaris, while others have gone on canoeing safaris and request to sleep under the stars before retreating to comfortable accommodations.

“Africa is one of those amazing destinations – especially east Africa and southern Africa – mainly for game viewing,” Rudi Steele, a Naperville, Illinois-based travel specialist told Fox Business. “If you go on a safari once, you would think you would get it out of your system, but when it comes to Africa and safari, it pulls you back; people go over again.”

Kenya and Tanzania are preferred destinations for the Chinese because of their visa-on-arrival service. South Africa is also a popular choice because of several direct flights between Hong Kong and Johannesburg.

 

Australia: Explore a Land Down Under

If money is no object, then the Chinese will be on the first plane to Australia for an extended holiday. Chinese travellers have Australia in their sights because of the country’s relaxed attitude and nature offerings, reported the CLSA 2016 survey.



Sydney, Australia’s most cosmopolitan city, has embraced Chinese tourists by offering tours in Mandarin while climbing up its iconic Harbour Bridge, as well as karaoke at the bridge’s summit during Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations.

For the first time, more than a million Chinese travellers visited Australia in 2015. Visitors from China have more than doubled since 2010, according to February 2016 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The lower Australian dollar has spurred tourism, as Chinese tourists spent around U.S. $6 billion over a 12-month period to September 2015, estimated Tourism Australia.

“China is a vitally important market for Australia’s tourism industry growth,” Tourism and International Education Minister Richard Colbeck told the Sydney Morning Herald in January 2016. “Visitor arrivals from China grew three times faster than the overall increase in the past year, and spending increased 43 percent – double the previous year’s growth rate.”

The Australian government has streamlined visa applications from China starting in April 2016 by granting 10-year visas to some Chinese nationals, offering visa applications in Chinese for the first time, and allowing online applications.

“China is Australia’s most valuable tourism market,” Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the South China Morning Post.
Four Unforgettable Worldwide Voyages

Travel advisors say their Chinese clients are seeking once-in-a-lifetime experiences while visiting the planet’s most exclusive locales, like relaxing like a VIP on one of Maldives’ private islands, camping with penguins near the South Pole, getting a relaxing massage after watching wildlife in Africa and discovering Australia’s famous outback.

• Honeymooners can indulge in the finer things for a week on Velaa, a private island in the Maldives, including Michelin-star food, a nine-hole golf course designed by a Ryder Cup-winning captain, dolphin watching and access to a private submarine.

Price: U.S. $180,000 for a seven-night stay.

http://www.velaaprivateisland.com/

• Thrill-seekers fly to Antarctica each year in November by private transport jet, land on an ice runway, and stay at Union Glacier Camp in the remote southern Ellsworth Mountains. From there, guests travel via ski aircraft to camp at the emperor penguin rookery for five nights.

Price: U.S. $40,700 for a nine-day tour.

http://www.adventureassociates.com/tours/antarctica/emperor-penguin-camping-tour/

• Safari travellers can experience the real-life Jungle Book in South Africa, and spot leopards, rhinos, lions, buffalo and elephants at Kruger National Park. Afterward, unwind at the Wellness Centre at the Kapama Private Game Reserve – one of South Africa’s best safari lodge spas, or “spafari.” Guests can experience African-style pampering, soak in a tub while gazing at the elephants, or practice yoga.

Price: U.S. $11,260 for a seven-day escape.

http://www.kapama.com/

• Travellers to Australia can follow in the footsteps of Crocodile Dundee by spending time in sophisticated Sydney, exploring the wide-open spaces of the Australian outback, and scuba diving and snorkeling along the Great Barrier Reef with a personal tour guide and driver.

Price: U.S. $9,864 for nine days.

http://www.artisansofleisure.com/tour/Australia_tours_luxury_travel_Sydney_Rock_Reef.php