There is no such thing as ONE China market.

Kavrine Mo
5 hours ago
2 min read

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, boarded Air Force One at the last minute to join President Trump’s visit to China.

That alone says a lot.

Years ago, he said:

“There is no other China. There is only one China.”

In tourism, I would argue something slightly different.

There is no such thing as ONE China market.

When people say,

“We want the China market back,”

my first question is always:

Which China market are you talking about?

Shanghai luxury families?

Guangzhou multi-generational travellers?

Young FIT travellers from Chengdu?

Students visiting friends and family?

High-yield incentive groups?

Or price-driven shopping tours from ten years ago?

Because “China market” is not one market.

It is many markets, many motivations, and completely different buying decisions hidden under one convenient label.

Too often, operators still ask:

“How do we sell this product to China?”

That is usually the wrong question.

Because you are not selling what you think people should buy.

You are selling what they are ready to accept.

Or more accurately—

you are not selling your product.

You are selling the version of that product that fits their desire, their timing, and their emotional decision-making.

That is exactly where many operators get the China market wrong.

They assume demand disappeared.

It didn’t.

Chinese travellers did not stop travelling.

They simply changed where they go—and how they choose.

Europe is seeing strong recovery from Chinese outbound travel, especially in premium FIT, culture-led journeys, and longer-haul experience-driven travel.

At the same time, Australia is still dealing with reduced air capacity on some China routes, while airlines continue shifting aircraft to stronger-yield markets.

If Chinese travellers are not choosing your destination, it does not automatically mean demand disappeared.

For years, the industry said it wanted fewer buses, better yield, and higher-value travellers.

Now that market is here, many operators still try to win it with yesterday’s group-tour playbook.

That rarely works.

Not every product should chase China.

And not every Chinese traveller should be your customer.

Before you ask how to win the market,

first ask whether this is your market to win.

If you are still waiting for pre-COVID China to return,

you are waiting for the wrong thing.

That old business still exists—

but it is now only one part of a much larger and more complex China market.