Destination consultancy Resonance has tried a different approach to analysing the Chinese outbound market by data-mining reviews posted onto Qyer.com.
It looked at 1.2 million reviews of 94,000 attractions on the site, which is one of China's biggest online travel communities.
The profile of Qyer contributors gives an insight into what the younger and more educated Chinese travellers are interested in. Resonance says that most Qyer users are aged between 18 and 35 and are more educated, widely travelled and higher spending than the general population.
It appears that countries which make it easy for the Chinese to visit reap the social media rewards, specifically France. It comes out with the third highest number of positive reviews of any country, even though the volume of visits is less than others such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
Looking at Qyer also helps when trying to find out what Chinese tourists like to do. Resonance confirms that, for Qyer users at least, shopping is not the main draw when visiting with sightseeing, cultural experiences and food all getting more positive interactions.
Elsewhere, the report also shows when the Chinese like to travel, based on the Qyer user trip dates. The three major Chinese holidays - the Mid-Autumn Festival, Qing Ming Festival and Chinese New Year - are the peak periods but Resonance makes the point that these coincide with off-peak periods in western markets. This gives travel firms an added incentive to target the Chinese market.
The report is available free on charge. Click here to access the page with download details.
Related reading from Tnooz:
Ctrip prepares for bumper Chinese New Year demand (Feb 2016)
Alitrip shifts focus to outbound with US agency partnerships (Jan 2016)
Qyer picks up $60 million (Jan 2016)