Among the Koreans, Chinese and Japanese citizens that travel abroad, it was revealed that Koreans traveled most frequently, Chinese spent the most money and Japanese went to faraway places most often. (Image : Kobizmedia / Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, July 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Among the Koreans, Chinese and Japanese citizens that travel abroad, it was revealed that Koreans traveled most frequently, Chinese spent the most money and Japanese went to faraway places most often.
Visa card reported the results of its ’2015 Visa Survey on Travel Plans’, in which 13,603 people from 25 different countries shared information about their travels.
According to the results, Koreans traveled an average of five times during the past two years, ranking the highest in travel frequency. The number was higher than the global average, which was three times.
Around 90 percent of the Korean respondents answered that they had traveled abroad in the past two years. Even so, Korean travelers seem to be of frugal mind when it comes to traveling expenses. They used an average of $1,808, which was way below the global average ($2,281). They also have a tendency to set a budget and stick to it. Korean travelers paid 46 percent of their expenses before departure, and 75 percent of the payments were made by credit card.
On the other hand, the average travel expense for Chinese travelers was $4,780, more than double the global average. Unlike Koreans, Chinese people had a tendency to decide what they wanted to do on the trip first and then calculate the expenses.
While 36 percent of Korean travelers and 34 percent of Chinese travelers visited Japan, 36 percent of Japanese travelers visited the US, showing their preference for long distance travel. The average time taken to get to the destination was longer for Japanese travelers (nine hours), compared to eight hours for Chinese travelers and six hours for Korean travelers. The average travelling expense for Japanese travelers was $3,165, which was less than the average of Chinese travelers.
In terms of accommodation, 41 percent of Korean travelers and 62 percent of Chinese travelers preferred hotels with more than 4 stars, while 49 percent of Japanese travelers preferred 1 to 3 star hotels.
The portion of Korean travelers that preferred package tours (47 percent) was similar to the portion of those who liked to travel freely (52 percent). However, more than half of the Chinese travelers (65 percent) and Japanese travelers (77 percent) preferred tour packages.
Ian Jamieson, head of Visa Korea, commented on the results of the survey. “It was impressive that Korean travelers prepare well and frequently go on trips and the purchasing power of Chinese travelers was also interesting. Visa will try to provide its users with many benefits so they can enjoy comfortable and safe trips abroad.”
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
