Young Chinese in Europe: Travel behavior and new trends based on evidence from Spain

Sa？etak Chinese tourism in Europe has tripled over the last decade to reach 6 million tourists in 2018. Understanding tourist behavior allows for improvement of the tourist experience and better management of destinations. To these ends, this study analyzes (1) the motivations, expectations and satisfaction of Chinese tourists and (2) defines the main differences between young Chinese (18-29 years old) and more mature Chinese tourists. Data is extracted from 360 survey questionnaires that were administered to tourists after their trips to Europe. Destination Spain, in Western Europe, is selected as the case study. Mean analysis, one-factor ANOVA and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) have been conducted. The results show that more mature travelers have significant differences in the travel arrangements, motivations, expectations and evaluations of their trips than do younger travelers. Younger tourists chose independent trips, while the more mature ones chose either full group packages or independent trips. The younger have a wider range of motivations and preferences for activities at their destinations. New trends in Chinese tourists visiting Europe are discussed and implications for the destination are explored