“A new duty-free consumer is emerging”: China Trading Desk’s Q2 2025 Traveller Survey Redefines Retail Readiness

76% of Chinese outbound travellers book international trips within one month, yet 78% conduct pre-trip product research

49% budget over ¥25,000 per trip, but value perception and product validation drive conversion

Social discovery via Xiaohongshu and Douyin is now the first retail touchpoint

Singapore,  June 2025: As China progresses through mid-2025, the outbound travel market continues to chart a strong recovery trajectory, evolving with renewed confidence and discernible shifts in consumer priorities.

That is according to China Trading Desk (CTD) and its latest China Outbound Travel Sentiment Survey for Q2 2025.

The survey reflects this ongoing transformation, capturing the “nuanced behaviours and motivations of a market steadily returning to pre-pandemic vibrancy”.

Chinese outbound travellers are displaying high intent, high spend, and digitally mediated shopping behaviours. The return of volume is no longer the story – the rewiring of decision-making, brand discovery, and purchase triggers is.

China Outbound Travel Sentiment Survey for Q2 2025 highlights

Highlights of the report include how 76% book international trips within one month, yet 78% conduct pre-trip product research. 49% budget over ¥25,000 per trip, but value perception and product validation drive conversion.

The report also indicates that social discovery via Xiaohongshu and Douyin is now the first retail touchpoint.

Flexibility and Spontaneity

One of the most striking developments in Q2, according to the CTD insights, is the reaffirmation of short-term travel planning, with 76% of Chinese travellers booking trips less than a month in advance. This continues the trend observed since early 2024 and highlights a sustained appetite for flexibility and spontaneity.

However, as the survey points out, juxtaposed with this is the deepening of travel intention, with nearly 69% of respondents planning to travel abroad one to two times in the coming year, a consistently high figure quarter after quarter.

The dominance of regional favourites such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand remains unchallenged. However, the rise of younger, tech-savvy, and largely female travellers—especially from Tier 1 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen—continues to redefine how and why destinations are chosen.

Supported by digital fluency and social platform influence (notably Xiaohongshu and Douyin), this favours ‘Free & Easy’ travel experiences, with 46% of those surveyed citing it as their preferred mode. “Their reliance on peer reviews, short-form video, and real-time discovery calls for brands to double down on mobile-first, UGC-rich strategies,” the survey states.

New frontier of outbound travel potential

Meanwhile, the 44% of respondents who have yet to travel internationally represent a fresh frontier of outbound travel potential. This group, largely cautious but aspirational, “underscores the importance of trust, simplicity, and value-conscious experiences in campaign design, particularly for brands in duty-free and travel retail sectors”.

The survey continues: “Budgeting behaviour also tells an optimistic story. Nearly half (49%) of Chinese travellers now plan to spend over 25,000 RMB per trip, consistent with Q1 and Q4 2024, signalling sustained demand for quality-led, experience-rich travel, even amidst broader economic uncertainty.”

Subramania Bhatt, CEO and Founder of China Trading Desk, commented: “The Q2 report distils critical shifts into actionable guidance, empowering marketers, retailers, and destination leaders to anticipate emerging expectations. By decoding the cultural drivers, economic considerations, and digital behaviours that define the 2025 Chinese traveller, we can move beyond reactive strategies and design experiences that resonate at every touchpoint.

“As China progresses through mid-2025, the outbound travel market continues to chart a confident, recalibrated trajectory, evolving with renewed confidence and discernible shifts in consumer priorities. The Chinese traveller is returning, but not as you once knew them.”

📊 Behavioural and Retail Trends

Chinese travellers are adopting an ‘impulse meets intent’ approach. Bookings are shorter and research is deeper.

While spontaneity continues – with three in four travellers booking on short notice – the decision to purchase is anything but random. At least 79% plan what to buy before departure, with mobile-led discovery and short-form content guiding both product selection and brand preference.

Travellers remain aspirational but increasingly rational:

• 67 – 68% prefer 4-star and above accommodation

• 25% look for duty-free discounts compared to domestic prices

• Shoppers expect bundled value, curated exclusivity, and justification to spend.

👤 Shopper Personas & Motivational Drivers Four Distinct Shopper Personas

The survey reveals four distinct shopper personas:

• Spontaneous Gen Z Explorer – Mobile-first, deal-seeking, highly influenced by XHS/Douyin

• Family-oriented Frequent Traveller – Value-driven, books in advance, multi-generational appeal

• Luxury-Seeking HNWI – High spend, low patience, seeks exclusivity and time efficiency

• Cautious First-Time Traveller – Peer-led, price-sensitive, prefers structured retail experiences.

The Five Economies – She, Value, Emotional, Silver and Confidence – remain, but there is a noticeable shift in emphasis:

• Confidence Economy grows: 44% of outbound travellers are first-timers

• Silver Economy matures: Health-focused, low social media usage, high trust need

• Value Economy sharpens: Travellers compare pricing, seek ‘smart buys’ across brands and platforms

🛍️ Duty-Free & Travel Retail Specific Findings

Pre-departure digital is the new ‘front door’ for Chinese travellers. Shoppers are influenced weeks before travel by influencer content, shopping guides, and platform-native search.

78% prefer to compare prices via app or social review, with Beauty, Skincare, Wellness and exclusive editions leading the wish list.

The survey notes that airport shopping must evolve for the new, self-guided traveller, and the duty free and travel retail sector must respond to:

• Scan-to-learn QR touchpoints, short-form content integration

• Trust-building signage and product storytelling

• ‘First-timer bundles’ and simplified purchase flows.

🔄 Cross-Channel Implications

Retail is now omnichannel in behaviour, if not in infrastructure. Travellers plan via digital (XHS, Douyin), compare via OTA and WeChat, and execute purchases in-store. The purchase, however, is shaped far earlier.

The CTD survey underlines that the DF&TR experience “begins on the feed, not the floor”.

📌 What Brands Should Do Now

• Pre-engage digitally: Treat content as retail; seed early, especially on Douyin and Xiaohongshu

• Localise the offer: Price clarity, brand familiarity, and contextual gifting matter

• Design for trust: Authenticity, Mandarin signage, and simplified in-store navigation win over first-time and cautious travellers

• Invest in ‘digital pre-boarding’: Shift influencer strategies upstream to shape basket decisions.

Subramania Bhatt adds:

“At China Trading Desk, we believe the future of duty-free lies not only in location, but in timing, influence, and trust. The traveller journey has moved upstream - decisions are now made in the feed, not at the shelf. The brands that win in 2025 will be those that meet the Chinese traveller earlier, more authentically, and with greater relevance.”

About China Trading Desk:

CTD is a leading digital solutions provider that enables international brands to effectively target Chinese consumers and travellers. The Singapore-based company’s services include digital marketing strategies, programmatic advertising, social media marketing, and data analytics to deliver high-impact results for brands entering or operating in China. Follow China Trading Desk on LinkedIn.

China Travel Dashboard—a real-time analytics platform that delves into the multifaceted behaviour of Chinese travellers. This tool combines real-time flight and booking data with qualitative insights gleaned from CTD’s proprietary surveys and consumer behaviour powered by UnionPay and GlobalBlue data, giving clients a 360-degree view of target demographics.