According to research done by China Tourism Research Institute, the first quarterly 2010 tourist satisfaction survey in China showed that tourists in the country are “generally satisfied”. More specifically, domestic travelers are the most satisfied; satisfaction for those travelling abroad has held steady; and overseas travelers to China displayed a decreased satisfaction with their travel experiences. Consumers are generally satisfied with the overall performance of the travel and tourism industry but have complained about the lack of better-priced travel deals and packages. Demographically speaking, consumers from northern parts of China have showed the highest satisfaction with the travel and tourism market.

Tourist Demography

Survey results showed that tourist demography for the three major travel markets – domestic travels, travels to China and travels abroad – is comprised of those with a college education or higher, aged between 25 – 45, and hold jobs in education, manufacture, and telecommunications industries. Consumers usually get their information from the internet and print media. While traveling, they spend most money on shopping and transportation needs.

1. Consumer habits for domestic travels

Domestic travelers have cited their top three purpose for travel as: sightseeing, taking a holiday, and visiting family and friends. They would usually choose to travel with family, friends, and colleagues – in that specific order. These travelers are especially concerned with learning more about the sightseeing area they want to visit, travel expenses, and convenience of transportation. Top three choices for travel information are cited as being the internet, word-of-mouth from family and friends, and traditional printed media. These visitors spend most of their travel expenses on shopping, buying admission tickets to sightseeing spots, and transportation.

2. Consumer habits for overseas travelers to China

Compared with domestic travelers, overseas travelers to China have most often cited 'taking a holiday' as their main travel purpose; and these visitors would most often choose to travel with family, alone or with a friend. They are most concerned with learning more about local law and policies, service and reception provided at the sightseeing area, and weather and transportation information. Top three choices for travel information are cited as the internet, printed media, and television and radio broadcasts. These visitors spend most of their money on transportation, shopping, and accommodation.

Specific Breakdowns of the Survey

Amongst domestic travelers, there is an increase in satisfaction with their overall travel experience (89.57 points, 1.14 points up from last quarter). This is especially true with tour groups (93.9 points, up 3.1 points from last quarter) and is less true with individual travelers (86.53 points, down 0.64 points from last quarter). Those travelling with tour groups have cited better satisfaction with their experiences with travel agencies, reception at scenic spots, and transportation and other services provided for better convenience. Tthey were quoted as saying that they would choose to visit an attraction again or would recommend others to visit. Individual travelers, however, cited shortcomings in their travel experience with the lack of better priced travel deals and packages, better reception at attraction sites and better provision of travel information.

Amongst overseas travelers to China, there has been a decline in satisfaction with travel experiences (85.78 points, down 6.57 points from last quarter). This is especially the case with visitors from neighboring countries to China. Tourists cited poor service standards as their main complaint. The top five countries found to have visitors with better satisfaction when travelling to China are: Denmark, Vietnam, Russia, UK, and South Africa. The last five for least satisfied are: Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia, Germany, and some Middle Eastern countries. There is a trend of better satisfaction with visitors from Taiwan and Hong Kong, Russia, and the US. On the other hand, traveler satisfaction with visitors from Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries have taken a slight dip.

Survey participants have left feedback requesting for better travel environment, better serviced facilities, better provision for more convenient transportation, and better solutions for relieving large crowds at attractions. The survey’s positive feedback makes up 75% while negative feedback accounts for only 25% of the comments. In the positive feedback, top ten comments are: “quite good, very good, worth it, liked it, convenient, clean, beautiful, not too expensive, very pretty, pretty”; top ten negative comments include: “bad, chaotic, dirty, not much to see, lots of people, inconvenient, traffic jams, don't like, can't say I liked, not worth it”.

A Demand for Better-priced Travel Deals and Packages

Satisfaction with domestic and overseas travelers when it comes to better-priced travel deals have taken a dip this quarter (61.55 points, down 10.75 points from last quarter); satisfaction with travel and accommodation services have also seen a decline (72.39 points, 1.64 points down from last quarter); visitors complained that that administrators were not very efficient in handling their complaints and in distributing necessary travel information. But in general, there are lesser complaints from visitors this quarter.

Visitor Satisfaction Scores in 50 Chinese Cities

City	Visitor Satisfaction Points
Shenyang	80.57
Shanghai	80.19
Hangzhou & Guangzhou	79.92
Chengde	79.81
Zhangjiajie	79.35
Jilin	79.17
Beijing	79.03
Huangshan	77.86
Changsha	77.65
Huhehaote	77.22
Tianjin	77.21
Nanjing	77.14
Qingdao	77.05
Chengdu	77.02
Yinchuan	76.31
Zhuhai	76.15
Xiamen	75.95
Ningbo	75.89
Suzhou	75.69
Dalian	75.54
Luoyang	74.94
Guilin	74.86
Wuxi	74.71
Kunming & Sanya	74.43
Haikou	74.38
Harbin	74.22
Xi'ning	74.18
Lhasa	73.82
Fuzhou	73.46
Guang'an	73.2
Shenzhen	73.18
Changchun	72.63
Chongqing	72.58
Nanning	72.5
Hefei	72.25
Guiyang	71.93
Xi'an	71.62
Zunyi	71.46
Qinhuang Island	70.61
Urumqi	70.55
Shijiazhuang	70.54
Taiyuan	70.3
Ji'nan	70.13
Nanchang	69.92
Lanzhou	69.91
Wuhan	69.27
Zhengzhou	68.93
Yan'an	68.42

It can be seen from the chart that top ten cities with the highest tourist/visitor satisfaction are those located in the eastern parts of China and the last ten with the least satisfaction are located in the middle parts of China. When it comes to trends, cities like Shenyang, Shanghai, Xiamen, Yinchuan, Huhehaote, Xi'ning, Nanning, Xi'an, and Chongqing have seen a larger increase in their respective visitors' satisfaction levels when compared with the results from last quarter.

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