Mastercard Insights: Global Tourism to Break Boundaries

• Tourism in the Chinese Mainland demonstrated accelerated recovery patterns and consistency in its market potential.
• Spending growth rates by Chinese Mainland tourists to Hong Kong and Macau lead all destinations.
• As transportation becomes more convenient, Hong Kong travelers are increasingly exploring southeastern coastal regions, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Jinjiang in Fujian.
• Among the top 10 visitor origins for inbound tourism to the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong has the highest percentage of travelers under age 19.

Mastercard has partnered with World Tourism Alliance, Trip.com Group and Ant Group to publish the “Cross-Border Tourism Consumption Trends Report 2023-2024”. Based on data sources including Mastercard's consumer insights and Mastercard Tourism Innovation Hub case studies, as well as product data, industry analysis and relevant sampled research by other participating organizations, the report provides observations and analysis of popular outbound tourism destinations for travelers from the Chinese Mainland¹, inbound tourism source markets and consumption trends in the cross-border tourism industry, to support the sustainable and resilient development of the global tourism industry.

As more visa-free policies are introduced and the payment conveniences in the Chinese Mainland are enhanced, overseas tourists saw a robust rebound in their willingness to visit the Chinese Mainland. As the quantity of international flights increase and cover more cities, more Chinese tourists are traveling overseas, driving strong spending recovery. Cross-border travel volume and consumption may break records this summer². This report also analyzes several destinations as successful cases in point on environmental, community and economic sustainability.

“Since the start of the year, the development momentum of the global tourism industry has encouraged many. People are spending a larger share of their travel budget on memorable experiences such as dining and entertainment,” said Dennis Chang, Executive Vice President and Division President, Greater China, Mastercard. “We are pleased to see that the Chinese Mainland, as the largest origin market of travelers and a major destination for cross-border tourism, shows consistency in its market potential and imbues even more confidence and momentum to the recovery and development of the global tourism industry.”

2024 Global Tourism Starts on a Robust Footing

The number of cross-border travelers and their travel expenditures have shown strong growth since the start of 2024. The global airfare and cruise spending indices for the first quarter of 2024 (“2024Q1”) have significantly surpassed pre-pandemic levels. According to the "Travel Trends 2024: Breaking Boundaries" report published by the Mastercard Economics Institute, global cruise transaction amounts in 2024Q1 are 16 percent above 2019 levels³.

Analyzing aggregated and anonymized Mastercard transaction data, the following four major trends in global travel spending have been identified.

• Economic growth unleashes cross-border travel spending potential: On the back of strong travel consumption and burgeoning passenger traffic, the global tourism industry is expected to experience breakthrough growth in 2024. Currently, travelers are extending their trips by an extra day compared to before the pandemic. The average length of stay for leisure travelers across Asia Pacific also increased from 6.1 days to 7.4 days, effectively boosting single-trip spending and growing the local tourism economy.
• Experience and event economy ignites consumer spending enthusiasm: Experiential spending accounts for over 12 percent of the total travel expenditure, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Tourist spending in bars and other leisure activities has been growing at an annual rate of more than 30 percent. Meanwhile, more consumers are traveling to international events, such as the European Championships, which in turn boosted the tourism economy in the host countries and surrounding areas.
• Value for money has become a new spending proposition: Travelers are demonstrating a greater focus on value-for-money. In the dining category, year-over-year spending growth of casual dining outpaced high-end restaurants in more than 90 percent of destinations. Only some Asia Pacific and European destinations saw a year-over-year surge in luxury brand spending. Across destinations, traveler spending and preferences diverged.
• Robust growth seen in APAC cross-border travel market: Asia Pacific is rebounding strongly, as 50 percent of the top 10 markets are Asia Pacific destinations. Japan tops the trending list, welcoming a record-breaking 3,081,600 international arrivals in March. This may help drive tourism to surrounding Southeast Asian destinations and their service industries.

Tourism in Chinese Mainland Demonstrates Accelerated Recovery Patterns

In 2024Q1, the volume of cross-border travelers was close to 83 percent⁴ of the same period in 2019. According to data from National Immigration Administration of the PRC, the total volume of outbound and inbound tourists (including tourists from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and foreign countries) in 2023 recovered to 67 percent of 2019 levels. In the fourth quarter of 2023, this figure reached 86 percent of the same period in 2019, outperforming all other quarters of 2023. The Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan markets have recovered significantly faster than the international market. 724,000 Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan permits were issued in 2024Q1, up nearly 20 percent⁵ year on year and reaching 114 percent⁶ of pre-pandemic levels.

Outbound travel

• Recovery situation: The number of outbound travelers and their consumption have recovered to 70 percent to 80 percent⁷ of the pre-pandemic level, with the average spend per customer exceeding expectations. Outbound tourism can look forward to rational exuberance.
• Destinations: The choice of outbound travel destinations shows a trend of “moving from nearby to faraway". Outbound travel destinations have gradually recovered and increased, with varying levels of offline spending recovery in top outbound destinations⁸. At the beginning of 2023, the Macau and Hong Kong markets recovered one after another, absorbing most of the travelers with outbound demand. Flight volume from the Chinese Mainland to Hong Kong between 2023 and 2024 have recovered to 82 percent⁹ of 2019 levels, showing significant recovery momentum in short-distance destinations. Chinese Mainland tourists’ spending growth rates in Hong Kong and Macau lead all destinations with overall average offline spending level, but both showed good performance during the Labor Day holiday¹⁰.
• Spending habits: Booking periods for flights and hotels remain shorter than pre-pandemic levels¹¹, Chinese Mainland travelers' flight and hotel spending is significantly higher than the pre-pandemic level¹²; spending shifts towards more experiential expenditures on food and entertainment¹³; authentic and immersive experiences are highly sought after; diversified, themed and scenario-based travel is becoming increasingly prevalent, with preference gearing towards value for money and high cost-performance travel¹⁴.

Inbound travel

• Recovery situation: The Chinese Mainland’s inbound tourism saw positive recovery trends in 2024Q1; the surge in Southeast Asian visitors continues unabated; a robust resurgence in inbound tourism from Europe, as other regions also witness short-term sustained recovery¹⁵.
• Product booking: Travelers go for longer, more in-depth visits; middle-aged travelers still constitute the majority, but young travelers are catching up. Among the top ten visitor origins for inbound tourism to the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong had the highest percentage of travelers under age 19; inbound tourism expands to Chinese Mainland’s heartland and trending cities; "Diverse Experiences" and "Chasing Hot Spots" are keywords for inbound destination choices, while maintaining enthusiasm for Chinese traditional culture; as transportation becomes more convenient, Hong Kong travelers are increasingly exploring southeastern coastal regions, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Jinjiang in Fujian.
• Spending trends: More diverse categories for inbound offline card-present spending; mobile payments enhance convenience for small transactions¹⁶, creating a diverse inbound payment ecosystem alongside offline card-present method.

Promoting the Development of Cross-Border Tourism

To support and facilitate the recovery of inbound tourism, the report suggests continuously enhancing overseas publicity exposure; expanding visa exemption programs and simplifying visa processes; continuing to increase flight capacity and supplementing with railway resources; improving identity verification and reservation processes to better serve international visitors at tourist destinations and hotels; providing foreign-language travel guide upon entry, expanding multilingual signage, and cultivating multilingual tourism talents, as well as continuing to enhance payment experience for international tourists.

As for outbound tourism, the report suggests optimizing visa policies towards Chinese Mainland tourists to create favorable conditions for international travel; enhancing travel information offerings in Chinese language to increase effective reach; optimizing outbound travel products to offer more convenient and diverse options for Chinese Mainland tourists, as well as educating outbound tourists on overseas payment environment through channels such as banks and payment service providers to enhance convenience and security.

Over the past decades, Mastercard has been committed to enabling the high-quality development of the Chinese Mainland's cross-border tourism. Recently, for outbound tourism, Mastercard has established in-depth cooperation with a number of cultural and tourism industry partners such as China Southern Airlines, Airbnb and Zuzuche.com, and deepened customer segmentation, promoting customized strategies and strengthening product innovation. For inbound tourism, Mastercard launched a payment facilitation project last year with Alipay and WeChat Pay respectively, aiming to expand payment options for inbound travelers and promote the diversification of payment methods and the construction of the card-based market. Earlier this year, Mastercard has also joined hands with Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism to unveil the enhanced Priceless Beijing, delivering unforgettable Priceless Experiences for inbound travelers to the Chinese Mainland.

Click here to read the full “Cross-Border Tourism Consumption Trends Report 2023-2024”.

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¹ In this report, the Chinese Mainland market does not include Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan.

² Trip.com Group, from May 2023 to April 2024; Civil Aviation Administration of the PRC, April 2024

³ Mastercard Insights

⁴ The Immigration Administration of the People's Republic of China

⁵ National Immigration Administration of China, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, 2024Q1

⁶ National Immigration Administration of the PRC, Xinhua News Agency, Guangming.com

⁷ Mastercard Insights, from 2019 to 2024Q1

⁸ Mastercard Insights, Ant Group Data, Trip.com Group Data

⁹ Trip.com Group, from May 2023 to April 2024; Civil Aviation Administration of the PRC, April 2024

¹⁰ Mastercard Insights, 2019Q1 and 2024Q1; Ant Group Data

¹¹ Civil Aviation Administration of China CAAC, 2019 vs 2023 data

¹² Mastercard Insights, 2019 and 2023

¹³ Mastercard Insights and Ant Group Data

¹⁴ Mastercard Insights and Ant Group Data

¹⁵ Trip.com Group, anonymized and aggregated inbound data

¹⁶ Mastercard Inbound Tourism Consumption Insights; Ant Group Data