The Philippines’ Boracay Island is one of the 20 most popular destinations among holiday-makers from China, the world’s largest tourism spender, based on data from popular travel site TripAdvisor.
This is despite the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China that has triggered some unfavorable travel advisories against the former.
TripAdvisor released a list of the top 20 most popular outbound destinations for mainland Chinese travellers based on July and August 2013 figures on Daodao.com, a customized version of TripAdvisor designed specifically for Chinese travellers, according to a statement released from Singapore on Tuesday.
In July and August 2013, millions of unique visitors came to Daodao.com to research outbound destinations, representing an increase of over 250 percent compared to the same time last year.
Boracay, known for its white sand beach and vibrant nightlife, ranked 16th on the list, beating Kyoto, Kota Kinabalu, Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur but lagging Hong Kong, Phuket, Taiwan, Bangkok and Paris.
The data also showed a 360-percent rise in online inquiries on Boracay for the period in review.
Hong Kong topped the list of popular destinations among Chinese travellers, followed by Phuket in Thailand and Taiwan.
The top 20 most popular destinations for July and August 2013 based on Daodao.com are as follows: Hong Kong, China; Phuket, Thailand; Taiwan; Bangkok, Thailand; Paris, France; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Macau, China; Seoul, South Korea; Singapore; Bali, Indonesia; Rome, Italy; Chiang Mai, Thailand; New York, United States; London, United Kingdom; Jeju Island, South Korea; Boracay Island, Philippines; Kyoto, Japan; Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia; Hanoi, Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The data also showed that of the top 20 destinations, Kyoto (Japan), Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), Hanoi (Vietnam) and Jeju Island (South Korea) exhibited the highest year-on-year growth at high triple digits.
Outside of the top 20, destinations on the rise with over four times year-on-year growth include Siem Reap (Cambodia), Pattaya (Thailand), Sabah (Malaysia) and Berlin (Germany).
In 2012, China overtook the United States and Germany to become the world’s largest source market for outbound tourism by expenditure. As such, capturing a share of this growing market has become a top priority for tourism boards and travel suppliers alike.
According to the China Tourism Academy, the Chinese outbound travel market is estimated to reach 94 million trips in 2013, up 15 percent year-on-year. These travellers are estimated to spend a combined $117.6 billion on their trips, up 20 percent year-on-year.
“This new generation of Chinese outbound travellers is making their own decisions about where to go, where to stay and what to do by doing their own research online, going beyond the old stereotype of big buses of group tourists,” said Lily Cheng, managing director at TripAdvisor China.
“These travellers are savvy, sophisticated and do make an effort to understand and respect the local culture by doing a lot of online research before their trip. As they explore outside of mainland China, they are deliberately seeking out websites that have an established international presence to find more deals and more content,” Cheng said.