MUMBAI: Chinese millennials born after 1990 are pushing the boundaries of international travel, increasing their travel expenditure in the past year by a staggering 80 per cent to fund social media-influenced trips full of edgy experiences, high tech accommodation, exotic delicacies and taboo ticket-items, said the findings of a study by an online travel portal.

"Star-struck by global pop-culture, film and television (62%) are now the main sources of inspiration for Chinese millennial travelers. Of the 59 per cent of Chinese travelers who expressed interest in visiting the timeless monument of love, Taj Mahal, when they visit India - 38 per cent attributed the desire to have emerged because of it being a favorite television series or film location," said the survey by Hotels.com . "Interestingly, 26 per cent added Taj Mahal to their bucket-list after seeing their favorite celebrity visit it," it added.

Travel brag moments and selfies were a huge part of the Chinese millennial travel experience in 2017, with 63 per cent using the reverse camera angle to boost those likes and build their social brand. India’s picturesque towns replete with natural beauty (62%), indigenous local food (49%) and vibrant local culture(40%) found their way to most selfie-worthy moments for Chinese travelers when exploring India.

Nelson Allen of Hotels.com said, “While millennials were at the helm of social media influence and trends, the report found no generation was free from social networking’s undeniable draw.”

"52 per cent of Chinese travelers overall were wooed by the power of the news feed, and a third of the older generation reported their travel decisions and behavior were influenced by their digitally-connected children."

India found its way to the top 10 popular destinations in Asia for Chinese travelers, a jump that can be attributed to increased efforts by the Indian tourism ministry to woo travelers from the world’s top tourism source-market, the survey said.

As per the India Tourism Statistics 2017, released by ministry of tourism, China features in the top 10 source markets for India, with India having welcomed over 2 lakh Chinese tourists in 2017. In India, Mumbai (69%) and Delhi (51%) emerged as the top visited cities as per the survey.

