Mastercard report: Leisure tourists contribute more than 80% of China’s inbound consumption

China News Service, Shanghai, October 21 (Reporter Jiang Yu) The first "Mastercard China Inbound Tourism Insight Report" released by the Mastercard Economic Research Institute on the 21st stated that leisure travel is still the absolute main force in China's inbound consumption. In most source markets, leisure tourists contribute more than 80% of consumption. From a time perspective, about 70% of inbound consumption occurs on weekdays.

The report also pointed out that digital wallets have become an important payment method. Thai tourists accounted for 69% of digital wallet consumption in China, and Singapore and South Korea were close to 60%. In contrast, tourists from the United States and Hong Kong still prefer physical bank cards, with physical card consumption accounting for about 75%.

From a city level, there are significant differences in the key source markets of different cities. For example, tourists from Hong Kong, China, contribute nearly 40% of Shenzhen’s inbound consumption; South Korea is an important source market for Qingdao; tourists from Taiwan, China are particularly important to Suzhou and Xiamen; and American tourists perform prominently in Shanghai and Beijing.

The report points out that with the support of policies such as the "15th Five-Year Plan for Building a Powerful Tourism Country", China's inbound tourism revenue has the potential to double to triple from the current level. Chang Qing, global executive vice president of Mastercard and president of Greater China, said: "China's inbound tourism is facing an unprecedented development window and is expected to become one of the most noteworthy structural growth opportunities in the next stage."