Online Chinese middle class travel boom for Australia, reports Mintel

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Online Chinese middle class travel boom for

Australia, reports Mintel

PR Newswire

CHICAGO, July 13, 2012

CHICAGO

,

July 13, 2012

/PRNewswire/ -- The Chinese middle class—they are

wealthy, have a passion for travel, a love of brands and are providing new

opportunities for the Australasia region, as new research from Mintel finds that

as many as 40% of all Chinese middle classes holidayed in Australasia last year,

making it the most visited region worldwide for Chinese middle class

consumers.

Within Australasia,

Australia

has proved to be the most popular destination,

with more than a third (35%) of this group having travelled to

Australia

last year

alone. Meanwhile, almost one in five (19%) visited

New Zealand

. And while the

comfort of a package has seen this type of holiday remain the number one way

to travel, three in ten (30%) having opted for a package in the past year, the

Chinese middle classes are also pioneering the concept of the "independent"

holiday, almost a fifth (17%) having travelled to

Australia

this way last year.

Paul French, chief

China

market strategist at Mintel, said:

"

Australia

has been growing in popularity for a number of reasons. It is under

nine hours of flying time, so less than

Europe

. There are also an abundance of

luxury brands, casinos are plentiful and visa procurement for Chinese visitors

there is easier. Right now the vast bulk of Chinese tourists arriving in

Australia

are on group tours—low cost packages with the bulk of any profits remaining in

China

with the travel agents, meaning that it's up to tourism service suppliers in

Australia

to extract the cash."

But it is not just Australasia which is proving popular.

Europe

is the next most

popular region, with as many as 37% of consumers holidaying there last year.

France

tops the list with a quarter (25%) of the Chinese middle classes choosing

France

as their destination of choice, while the UK is a close second at 22%.

Meanwhile, a third (32%) of the Chinese middle class travelled to

North America

last year. And the appeal for overseas items is clear as just 6% say they have

not purchased any luxury items while travelling outside of

China

, highlighting

the cache for brands in international markets.

The research also reveals that just 5% of the Chinese middle class are not

intending to buy any luxury item in the next year and the importance of luxury

goods is highlighted by the segments the Chinese middle classes intend to

invest in over the coming year. A massive 67% intend to invest in luxury

clothes, 60% in clothes and footwear, 58% in jewelry and watches and 45% on

electronics. A further 28% state that they intend to purchase luxury furniture

and home appliances, a fifth (21%) into cars and motorcycles and 14% to

purchase luxury branded pens.

"The global spending power of Chinese consumers has become the stuff of new

legend. Chinese travelling overseas to spend and 'arbitrage' purchases,

particularly on items that attract high taxes at home such as luxury goods, has

become a new theme of global retail and consumption," adds Paul.

Indeed,

China

's emergent middle class is gadget and technology crazy and can

afford to be. Today, 96% of those defined as middle class own a computer and

90% own a digital or video camera. Desktop Computers (88%), HD TV (83%)

and DVD Players (70%) make up the remaining top five gadgets owned. While

the lowest ownership levels rated were for 3D TV—around one in four (26%)

Chinese middle class consumers own one—and a noteworthy 0% of those

surveyed claimed to not own any of the gadgets listed. However, the big

revolution in

China

is smartphones with 97% adoption amongst the middle

classes.

China

's electronic appliances market, both brown and white goods, has also

boomed in recent years and the number buying appliances in the last three

months indicates why (39% for brown goods* and 42% for white goods**). The

middle class desire to own gadgets is also shown in the response that over half

(53%) of the middle class are planning to buy some form of brown goods in the

next three months, while 43% plan to buy a white good over the same three

month period. And while in the past credit was a hurdle for retailers to

overcome to encourage spending, according to Mintel's research 43% of

Chinese middle class consumers have one card and 52% more than one.

In 2012, middle income (those consumers who are urban, invariably white

collar workers and have a household income of between approximately

US$9,000-US$30,000

) households constituted fully 13.4% of total urban

households in

China

, or approximately 30 million households or approximately

100 million people.

*Brown goods include televisions, PCs and game consoles.

**White goods include washing machines, fridges.