00:00China's luxury hotel sector is thriving, with inbound tourism helping to fuel the boom.
00:06Here's our correspondent, Shavon McCall, with more.
00:08Thanks, Juliette.
00:09Yes, luxury travellers are taking advantage of China's visa-free policies,
00:14with unilateral access introduced for 50 countries.
00:18More than 30 million foreign nationals entered China under visa-free policies in 2025.
00:23That accounted for more than two-thirds of all inbound foreign visitors
00:27and was almost a 50% increase year on year.
00:32Inbound tourism is expected to contribute around 16% of China's tourism revenue by 2030.
00:38Currently, it's around 12%.
00:41Luxury and business travellers are set to play a key role in this growth.
00:46While the prices of China's luxury hotels are significantly cheaper than in many Western countries,
00:52for example, a night at the five-star Shangri-La Hotel in Guilin
00:56is likely to cost between $65 and $160.
01:01London's Shangri-La is around $800 a night.
01:04And it's a similar story for high-end dining.
01:07Eating at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Beijing or Shanghai usually costs up to $200.
01:13The same in New York or San Francisco could cost close to three times as much, up to $530 there.
01:21Well, China's luxury hotel market is forecast to grow by more than 8% over the next five years,
01:28reaching more than $250 billion by 2031.
01:34In 2025, it was around $156 billion.
01:37And the luxury sector is also expected to benefit from a growing demand for immersive experiences,
01:43from culture to cooking.
01:46Many travellers are also seeking rejuvenation at wellness spas and at yoga retreats.
01:51And more high-end brands are opening up in more remote destinations
01:55as travellers look for experiences away from the major cities.
02:00While Simon Calder is a travel broadcaster and commentator.
02:04Simon, thanks for joining us on the programme.
02:07What's your assessment of China's luxury travel sector?
02:11Well, basically, as we've been hearing, there is huge room for growth.
02:16And that growth, I think, is going to come largely from the international market.
02:21You've mentioned visa-free travel.
02:24Crucial points that happened in the end of February
02:29was that both the UK and Canada were told no need to get visas anymore.
02:35And as a result of that, you are welcome to come in.
02:38I tested this out myself last month.
02:41It works very, very straightforwardly.
02:43And it absolutely transforms a visit to China.
02:47And I think, interestingly, in terms of the bureaucracy involved in a visit
02:52to a big, fascinating Asian country,
02:56India is now going to find itself very much trailing behind China,
03:00simply because it still has very, very tough visa rules.
03:04Well, as China, you just turn up if you're one of 50-plus nationalities,
03:09and in you come, and you've made you feel very welcome.
03:12With these new visa-free policies,
03:15can China become a global leader when it comes to luxury travel and hotels?
03:20Well, if you are looking for absolute high-end travel,
03:25then there's an awful lot of places around the world, as you will know,
03:29where it is done extremely well indeed.
03:31I think China's big strength, and certainly the growth that we've been hearing about,
03:36about one-third increase in the proportion that comes from international visitors,
03:42will be very much people probably like me,
03:45who are looking for really good value for a luxury experience.
03:50For instance, I flew into Chengdu on Sichuan Airlines
03:55in a very comfortable business class seat.
03:58It wasn't, I have to say, quite up to the world's very best business class,
04:02but it was more affordable.
04:04And if I can then check into a good five-star hotel,
04:08rather than maybe settling for a three- or four-star hotel for the same price,
04:12I'm going to be very, very keen to do that.
04:15And yes, we heard more about the experiences that people are hoping to have.
04:22Experiential tourism is so important.
04:24And of course, China has such a breadth of culture,
04:28of all kinds of activities,
04:30which I think are going to appeal to international tourists.
04:34Simon, you mentioned Chengdu there.
04:35Are there any other places in China that could have big potential for luxury travel?
04:41Well, you can look, of course, at Beijing and Shanghai,
04:45Xi'an, to some extent, the really, Guangzhou, of course,
04:48the really big cities which are going to attract business travellers as well.
04:53But I think, yes, maybe the second-tier cities such as Chengdu and Qingdao,
05:01which, a fantastic place, just got new air links from the UK.
05:06These second-tier cities are, I think, really going to catch on.
05:10Simply because people will discover a side of China
05:14which is so, so different from what they might be expecting.
05:19So, yes, anything, I think, which increases horizons,
05:23widens the opportunities,
05:24and, of course, delivers great value,
05:26is going to be very much appreciated by travellers.
05:30So, yes, I think it's going to be very much appreciated by the travellers.
05:30So, yes, I think it's going to be very much appreciated by the travellers.
05:30So, yes, I think it's going to be very much appreciated by the travellers.
05:30So, yes, I think it's going to be very much appreciated by the travellers.
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