Singapore, 10 January, 2017 – Wego.com, the leading travel search site in the Asia Pacific and Middle East, today reveals the growth in adult children travelling with elderly family members leading up to Chinese New Year.
“Family is such an important component of Chinese culture and today, young Chinese professionals are taking the lead in travel planning and bookings for their parents and extended family to maintain the limited time they spend together,” said James Huang, Market Development Manager, Wego North Asia.
Huang says that many adult children have relocated to work in first-tier cities such as Shanghai or Beijing, or have left China completely to establish their careers internationally.
“Traditionally Chinese families consisted of large families with seven or more children who would live and work close to home,” explained Huang. “But in recent times the number of children has shrunk to only one or two, however the importance and value of family remains very strong even though modern life now places distance between them.”
“Add to that the limited annual leave allowance in China of around seven working days, the amount of achievable family time is less than ever,” Huang said. “Adding annual leave to Chinese New Year equates to one of the longest continuous periods of time available to many, and the number one priority is spending that time with family.”
Huang has seen a new trend emerge where young professionals are flying their parents and family to them, or to another destination to spend time together depending on where they’re based.
“On Wego we’re seeing outbound family travel growing in demand for Chinese travellers, and not just at Chinese New Year,” Huang continued. “Many also take advantage of long weekends to increase family time.”
“Young professionals living away from home are willing to spend more money to ensure their ageing parents especially travel in comfort by booking full service flights for them,” Huang added. “They prefer family friendly hotels close to public transport in modern cities such as Tokyo and London. For destinations outside of Asia, they’ll select hotels who cater to Chinese tastes with familiar meals such as congee or hotpot, as elderly family members are less likely to adapt to Western food.”
“Airlines have assisted this growing trend with more direct flights connecting second and third tier Chinese cities to popular destination in Asia. While Asia is attractively convenient in terms of flight duration, in addition the airline’s fight for market sure usually equate to extremely affordable airfares. For instance, Hainan Airlines launched a new direct flight from Changsha to Sydney in July last year with a promotional airfare less than US$100.”
Following the Sydney service, Hainan Airlines also connected with Melbourne and Auckland.
“The airline also just announced its application to open routes this year from Chongqing to Los Angeles and New York, continuing its strategy of flying from China’s second tier cities to major international destinations,” said Huang. “Silk Air too is connecting second and third tier cities in China (currently eight) with Singapore, and has just launched a direct flight from Fuzhou.”
“The interpretation of the Chinese ‘family’ segment needs to be redefined. This evolving family travel trend offers new opportunities for the travel industry to target with more creative offerings beyond families consisting of younger parents and small children,” Huang suggests.
“Designing thoughtful options to suit travelling with elderly family members to attract this growing segment is a winning formula,” Huang said in conclusion. “Hotels can incorporate local menus and larger, more comfortable road transfers, and airlines might consider flexible flight packages designed for three to suit an older family unit that includes options for Premium Economy seats (for older parents) and Economy for an adult offspring.”
“This new trend is likely to continue to grow and not just at Chinese New Year, but throughout the year, especially approaching public holidays,” Huang added.
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About Wego
Wego.com provides award winning travel search websites and top ranked mobile apps for travellers living in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. Wego harnesses powerful yet simple to use technology that automates the process of searching and comparing results from hundreds of airline, hotel and online travel agency websites.
Wego presents an unbiased comparison of all travel products and prices offered in the marketplace by merchants, both local and global, and enables shoppers to quickly find the best deal and place to book whether from an airline or hotel direct, or with a third party aggregator website.
Wego was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Singapore with regional operations in Dubai, Bangalore and Jakarta. Investors include Tiger Global Management, Crescent Point Group and SquarePeg Capital. Each month Wego sends flight and hotel booking referrals worth US$1.5B to travel partners.
中国家庭旅游的定义正在改变
年轻人带领老年人家庭成员旅行增加的趋势
新加坡，2017年1月10日 – Wego.com，亚太和中东地区领先的旅游搜索网站，今天揭示年轻人主导并带领老年家庭成员在中国新年期间旅行的增长在在中国新年期间旅行的增长。
“家庭是中国文化的重要组成部分，现今，年轻人在承担起制定旅行计划和安排，为保证他们的父母以及大家庭保持有限的时间在一起，” Wego北亚市场拓展经理，黄庭箴说道。
黄先生说，许多成年子女已迁移到一线城市如上海或北京，或完全离开中国，在国际发展自己的事业。
黄先生解释说：“传统的中国家庭由七个或更多孩子的大家庭组成，他们将在家附近生活和工作。 “但是现如今，孩子的数量已经缩减到只有一两个，然而，家庭的重要性和价值仍然很强，即使生活在相隔很远的地方，“再加上中国有限的年假约七个工作日，可实现的家庭时间的数量比以往任何时候都要少。 “在中国新年休年假等于许多人可以获得更长的假期，而第一优先考虑是把这些时间花在与家人一起。
黄先生看到了一个新的趋势，年轻的专业人士正在把他们的父母和家人接到他们工作的城市，或者一起去到到另一个离他们双方都比较近的目的地。
“在Wego，我们看到中国游客对家庭旅行的需求增长，而不仅仅是在中国新年，”黄先生继续说。 “许多人还利用长周末来增加家庭时间。
“年轻人士愿意花更多的钱来确保他们老年的父母行程舒适，特别是通过为他们预订全程服务航班来确保舒适地旅行“。 “他们喜欢家庭友好的酒店并且公共交通方便的大城市，如东京和伦敦。对于亚洲以外的目的地，他们偏好选择有熟悉的餐点如粥或火锅满足中国口味的酒店，因为老年家庭成员不太适应西方食物。
“伴随这种增长趋势，航空公司开通更多直达航班连接二三线城市到亚洲的热门目的地。由于航行时间短，所以亚洲旅行非常方便，此外，航空公司为争取市场肯定通常会有极其实惠的机票。例如，海南航空于去年7月开通了从长沙到悉尼的直航航班，并有低于100美元的促销机票。
继悉尼之后，海南航空还开通了墨尔本和奥克兰航线。
“海南航空还宣布今年开通从重庆到洛杉矶和纽约的航线，继续其从中国二线城市飞往主要国际目的地的战略。 “胜安航空开通中国的二三线城市（目前为八家）到新加坡的航线，并刚刚开通了福州的直航。
旅游业需要从新诠释对家庭旅游的定义并赋其产品不同的内涵，认知到很多华人家庭旅游的组成已经不再是年轻父母和儿童，而是一两个年轻人和其年迈的父母，为这项新需求提供创意性的服务可以为公司带来新的商机。
“设计周到的选择，以适应与老年家庭成员旅行，吸引这个不断增长的细分市场是一个成功的公式，”黄总结。 “酒店可以结合当地菜单，和更大更舒适的接送服务，航空公司可能考虑为三个设计的灵活飞组合，以适应老年家庭成员，包括高级经济舱（老年父母）和经济舱给成人的搭配。
“这个新趋势可能继续增长，不仅仅是在农历新年，甚至全年，特别是接近公众假期，”黄补充说。
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关于Wego
Wego.com是为亚太和中东地区的用户提供服务获奖的旅游搜索网站和排名最高的移动应用程序。 Wego坚持强大而简单易用的原则，自动搜索和比较来自数百家航空公司、酒店和在线旅行网站。
Wego介绍了商家（包括本地和全球）在市场上提供的所有旅行产品和价格的无偏差比较，并使购物者能够快速找到最佳交易和地点，无论是从航空公司还是酒店直接订购，还是与第三方聚合商网站。
Wego成立于2005年，总部设在新加坡，在迪拜、班加罗尔和雅加达也设有分公司。投资者包括Tiger Global Management，Crescent Point集团和SquarePeg Capital。 每月Wego给旅行合作伙伴带去价值15亿美元的航班和酒店预订。