Ctrip-Christmas with Chinese characteristics? (Christmas/Winter Travel Trends)
While Christmas is not been a part of traditional Chinese culture, recently more and more Chinese tourists have be travelling to Lapland – “Santa Clause’s home” – to experience a true winter wonderland, and witness first-hand the natural wonder of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis.
According to Ctrip, China’s largest travel site, the number of Chinese tourists travelling to view the Northern Lights has increased 400% in 2017, compared with 2016. Finland, Norway, USA Alaska, Canada and Iceland rank as the most popular northern lights destinations.
Data released by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators also reflects the strong growth of Chinese outbound tourism. According to the association, China has become Antarctica’s second largest tourist source in the world in 2016, accounting for 12 per cent of some 46,000 total visitors, trailing the United States. Chinese travelers to Antarctica have increased 40 times from less than 100 visitors in 2008 to 3,944 in 2016.
The strong market growth, on the one hand, is due to the Chinese travelers’ pursuit of exotic destinations & more challenging travel locations. On the other hand, it is also due to the romantic nature of the trip – and some wishful thinking as some believe that the Northern lights can bring good luck, and even super smart babies.
