China has an aging population. There were 241 million people aged 60 and above at the end of 2017, and the number is expected to hit 487 million by 2050.
The country's aging population will bring new opportunities for the market, and an increasing proportion of consumers will prefer to purchase high-quality products and services, noted Wang Bin, co-founder and president of venture capital and technology-focused media platform iyiou.com.
Older Chinese people traveled to 74 countries in 2018, according to a report from leading online travel company Ctrip. Among senior travelers, 24% chose to travel for more than seven days, compared to 19% in 2016.
Statistics from Ctrip showed 82% of seniors prefer packaged trips, and 85% choose four or five-star travel plans.
Compared with younger tourists, seniors are willing to spend more money on their vacations. People born in the 1950s have become the biggest spenders, with the average spend on a packaged tour reaching 3,115 yuan (USD 456) in 2018.
More Chinese retirees are increasingly using online booking sites to plan their trips, with Ctrip finding 54% of the age group preferring to use online travel platforms.
According to Ctrip, travelers aged above 55 accounted for 16% of people booking such customized trips last year, with the average spend hitting 3,500 yuan.
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