YWS: Chinese millennials drive overseas travel boom

Chinese overseas travel is big and getting bigger. The generation born in the 1980s will increasingly dominate the outflow, crucial for Asian gaming destinations including Macau, Manila and South Korea. A report from leisure architect and environment specialist YWS Design highlights how these Chinese millennials differ from their parents and from their opposite numbers in the US.

中国的出境游市场规模很大，而且正在变得越来越大。出生于80年代的这一代人将逐渐成为中国出境游主力，这对于包括澳门、马尼拉和韩国在内的亚洲博彩业城市至关重要。休闲建筑和环境专业公司YWS Design在一篇报告中指出，中国千禧一代和他们的父母以及美国同龄人存在着种种不同之处。

The sheer volume is staggering. Last year, a record 109 million Chinese traveled oversea and spent $164 billion, making them the world's largest and most lucrative group of travelers. The growth recalls the Japanese travel surge of the 1980s, except that the pool of Chinese is ten times larger. In 2019, Bank of American/Merrill Lynch estimates 174 million Chinese traveling overseas and spending $264 billion. Investment bank CLSA estimates Chinese overseas travelers will reach 200 million by 2020. The 200 million Chinese millennials, products of the one-child policy raised mainly during boom times, are leading the wave.

绝对数量庞大到令人吃惊。去年，中国出境游人数达到创纪录的1.09亿人次，海外支出达到1,640亿美元，成为世界上规模最大且最有利可图的游客群体。这种增速让我们想起了80年代日本旅游业的繁荣，只是中国的规模是它的十倍。美国银行美林证券预测，2019年，中国出境游人数将达到1.74亿人次，海外支出2,640亿美元。法国里昂证券预计，中国出境游旅游到2020年将达到2亿人。中国2亿千禧一代——他们都是独生子女政策的产物，成长于经济繁荣的时代——正在引领这一波潮流。

They share some key traits with their parents, such as love of shopping, and with US millennials, such as love of wi-fi. But Chinese millennials have unique characteristic that the leisure and hospitality industry, including the casino business, ignores at its peril, the YWS white paper by its director of market research and consumer insights Roberto Coppola warns.

中国的千禧一代和他们的父母有一些重要的共同点，比如爱购物，和美国同龄一代的共同点是爱上网。YWS Design市场研究和消费者洞察总监罗伯托·科波拉在其白皮书中警告说，中国千禧一代拥有一些独一无二的特征，而包括博彩业在内的休闲娱乐和酒店业都忽略了这些特征，其后果堪忧。

"Attracting Chinese millennials to a physical product, or a physical space, requires an acknowledgement that what has worked in the past will likely not work with them," Coppola writes. "For leisure and interconnected businesses this means developing beyond a small singular localized element within a designated environment. The larger experience – driven by a desire for something different, unique and genuine – should also be contemplated in ways that reflect and even encourage the blurring of cultural lines to that place where discovery of something 'new' is likely always the experience for someone in the room."

"要吸引中国千禧一代去购买某个有形产品或者游览某个景点，必须承认过去的方法在他们身上已经不管用了，"科波拉写道，"对于休闲和相互关联的业务而言，这意味，需要在特定的环境中开发出不仅仅限于小型单一本地化元素的东西。更宽泛的体验——出于对与众不同、独一无二且真实事物的渴望的驱动——也应该从不同的角度来予以考虑，体现甚至鼓励模糊的文化界限，使得发现新鲜事物总能成为每一个人的体验。"

Their parents are famous for spending $6.000 on a handbag but staying in a flophouse and eating instant noodles. But Chinese millennials consider lodging part of their leisure experience and are willing to pay for something unique. Circus Circus pioneered this space four decades ago, and Japan flavored Nobu Hotel offers something out of the ordinary in another direction. Millennials also don't want to jump off a tour bus, snap a photo and jump back on, according to the report, but seek deeper cultural experiences.

众所周知，虽然他们的父母会花6,000美元买一个手提包，但却住廉价旅店、吃方便面。然而，中国千禧一代认为住宿是他们休闲体验的一部分，并愿意为独特的东西买单。四十年前，Circus Circus率先进入该领域，而日本时尚的诺布酒店也从另一方面提供了一些独一无二的服务。报告显示，千禧一代不想从旅游巴士上跳下来，去拍张照片，然后再回到车上，相反，他们在寻找更渊深的文化体验。

Like their US counterparts, Chinese millennials are a tough sell for casinos. They're not interested in slot machines and most other gaming options. Las Vegas has drawn US millennials with its party scene, but Chinese millennials are more likely to be married and traveling with their significant other so not big on clubbing or other environments that encourage social collisions. They do, however, share their parents' love of karaoke. In addition to having karaoke bars, with private rooms and a full menu of non-alcoholic beverages and food for sharing, YWS suggests incorporating elements of karaoke, where people reveal their true self among friends, in other activities. Chinese millennials like coffee as well as tea, the white paper also notes, and venues for enjoying a beverage can be made more appealing with touches of local (or Chinese) culture, perhaps by repurposing club or other spaces during idle hours.

和美国的同龄人一样，中国80后也不喜欢赌博。他们对老虎机和大多数其他游戏选项都不感兴趣。拉斯维加斯因为其各种各样的派对吸引了不少美国千禧一代，但中国千禧一代与他们的另一半来这里结婚和旅游的可能性更高，他们对夜店或者其他鼓励社交冲突的环境并不感兴趣。然而，这些千禧一代和他们的父母一样也喜欢KTV。除了在KTV提供包间、无酒精饮料和食物之外，YWS还建议将卡拉OK元素融合到其他的活动中，因为KTV是人们向朋友展示真实自我的地方。这份白皮书还指出，中国的千禧一代既喜欢咖啡，也喜欢茶，所以，带有当地（或中国）文化元素的茶馆和咖啡馆会更加吸引人，这也许可以通过在淡季时重新装修俱乐部或其他场所的方式来实现。

The white paper highlights popular China hot pot restaurant chain Hai Di Lao, which makes waiting for a table part of its unique experience. During waits that often reach three hours, customers can enjoy manicures, hand massages, shoe shines, free wifi and snacks, get phones repaired and even play cards or chess, with toys on hand for children. In dining areas, servers perform Hai Di Lao's trademark Noodle Dance to entertain guests; they have time because diners submit their own orders via tablet computer. Coppola says Hai Di Lao demonstrates how leisure and hospitality providers can let their experience begin with the wait for it to start.

这份白皮书重点提到了中国备受欢迎的火锅连锁店海底捞，该公司让排号等位成为其独特体验的一部分。在通常长达三个小时的等位期间，顾客可以享受到各种不同的服务，比如美甲、手部按摩、皮鞋护理、免费上网和小吃、手机维修，甚至还可以玩扑克或者下棋，另外供孩子们玩耍的玩具。在用餐区，服务员会表演海底捞的特色舞面来招待客人；顾客在平板电脑上下单之后，会有充分的时间来观看表演。科波拉说，海底捞展示出了休闲和礼宾服务供应商可以如何从顾客等候那一刻起就能够获得独一无二的体验。

YWS is an architecture and design firm, so its view of catering to Chinese millennials comes through that lens, leaving some key questions unanswered. Regarding dining, are Chinese millennials like their parents and almost exclusively interested in Chinese food and related variants? Another is whether Chinese millennials, thought to support China's more assertive nationalism, will visit countries that have political disagreements with China. That has implications for the US, and even bigger ones for the Philippines and Vietnam, developing gaming destinations banking on Chinese visitors to support multibillion dollar resort investments while embroiled in heated maritime territorial disputes with China.

YWS是一家建筑设计公司，所以它迎合中国千禧一代的观点来自建筑设计角度，故而留下了一些关键的问题没有回答。在餐饮领域，中国千禧一代会和他们的父母一样，几乎只偏爱中国食物及衍生菜系吗？另一个问题是，助长中国民族主义气势的千禧一代，会去在政治方面与中国不和的国家旅游吗？美国已经因此受到影响，而菲律宾和越南受到的影响则比美国大得多，原因是一方面他们指望中国游客提供数十亿美元来开发博彩中心，另一方面，他们在南海领土上和中国的纷争却日趋激烈。