Healing tourism gains popularity in China

More people have strong desire to travel and the market is seeing more opportunities for healing tourism, which means less tight schedules and more health related projects, bringing joy to the spirit, a new survey shows.

As China optimized their COVID-19 response measures, the pent-up travel demand has been released. About 91.24 percent of respondents to the survey conducted by Chinese financial media outlet Yicai said they have a plan to travel this year.

About 60 percent of respondents said they have a plan to travel domestically, while 32.37 percent choose both domestic and outbound tourism this year.

In terms of tour expenditure, 57.39 percent of respondents said they would prefer 10,000-20,000 yuan ($1,453-$2,906) per person per single trip, while 32.6 percent choose 5,000-10,000 yuan, according to a survey based on more than 1,200 questionnaires.

Though the tourism industry was hit hard by COVID-19, after the pandemic people began to pay more attention to their health and have strengthened their will to travel, Cheng Chaogong, a senior researcher with the research institute of Tongcheng Travel, told Yicai.

A growing number of consumers are paying more attention to health-related consumption, among which healing tourism has become a bright spot.

About 87 percent of respondents to the survey said they are willing to spend toward healthy products, and more than half, or 55.24 percent, said they plan to participate in healing tourism this year.

Data from travelling platforms showed cities located around the tropic of cancer such as Sanya, Zhuhai, Xishuangbanna, Dali, Xiamen, Haikou, Tengchong and Beihai are becoming popular.