Tourism | Mainland children put Macau in top-ten spot

Macau ranks among the top ten most popular outbound tourist destinations for Chinese children from the mainland, according to a “Children Air Travel Report” released recently by China’s major online tourism service platform, Ctrip.
Macau now ranks as the tenth most popular destination for young Chinese visitors, trailing Hong Kong (1), Taipei (2), Bangkok (3), Singapore (4), Phuket Island (5), Seoul (6), Tokyo (7), Osaka (8) and Chiang Mai (9).
According to the report, the number of mainland children taking overseas holidays has grown by 82 percent in the first quarter of 2016. The report further shows that as an increasing number of children travel by air, the average age of child travelers is decreasing. In the first quarter of 2015, children under the age of six accounted for 48 percent of all child travelers, while that age segment represented 51 percent in the last quarter.
Additionally, the report states that Chinese children have traveled to 132 countries and regions thus far in 2016, according to flight ticket data.
A mainland news website, People’s Daily Online, accredits this rising figure to a cultural shift among Chinese parents. “Post-70s and post-­80s Chinese parents believe that travel is an important form of education and should begin from an early age.”