China National Day Golden Week 2018 Preview

Executive Summary

Chinese tourists travelling during this year’s National Day Golden Week holidays (October 1–7) will boost both global and domestic retail sales. According to Ctrip (China’s largest online travel agency), during this year’s National Day holidays:

• Over 700 million Chinese citizens will be traveling within the country and around 7 million Chinese will be traveling overseas. These numbers together represent around half of the total Chinese population.
• The per capita expenditure during these holidays is expected to be ¥3,100 for domestic tourists and ¥7,300 for outbound Chinese tourists.
• Japan is expected to be the most popular destination for Chinese tourists, followed by Thailand and Hong Kong. The US, on the other hand, has fallen out of favor because of the ongoing US–China trade war.