In a survey from the Nielsen market research group, figures suggest a strong growth in the outbound Chinese travel market and the implications are having a knock-on effect to sales in industries outside travel.

The Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor suggests that there has been a 2 percent rise in Chinese nationals traveling outside of the country since 2009. Furthermore, out of those surveyed from second-tier cities in the north and east of the country, 5 percent claimed that they had traveled overseas during 2010 – this represents up to a 3 percent rise in travel for certain cities over the course of the last two years.

Beijing has also seen a big rise in outbound travelers since 2008 – an increase of around five percent – though this figure is eclipsed by the travel growth in the tier-1 cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou which experienced a 15 and 20 percent rise respectively.

While many travel for medical reasons (particularly to Thailand and South Korea), travel for leisure seems to be quickly becoming the number one reason as to why Chinese go abroad during the year over traveling to see family members. Macau and Hong Kong are the most popular destinations.

The knock-on effect around the globe is being seen in automotive and consumer goods sales. While America sees 61.5 million travelers heading abroad in 2009 (the latest figures on record), tourists from China are numbered at around 57 million in 2010 and representing a massive 20 percent increase. The chairman of China’s National Tourism Administration expects to see the number of outbound Chinese tourists increase to around 84 million by 2015, a number likely to overtake the US at some point in the near future.

Reported by Zeke Lyons.

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