China’s travel recovery ‘slower than expected’

China's travel recovery is proving "slower than expected" with outbound leisure travel "not considered safe", business services giant McKinsey has reported.

McKinsey partner and lead on travel for Asia Steve Paxton said China "is headed in the right direction", but he noted "good and bad news" from research on consumer confidence in China.

He said: "Chinese consumer optimism about economic recovery stands out." More than half (53%) of Chinese consumers expected China's economy to recover in McKinsey research in late May.

However, just 4% said they expected to travel more post-Covid than before, with 36% expecting to travel less.

Paxton also warned: "Business travel is not likely to return to its previous level. We see a structural shift in business travel. Maybe 20% is not coming back."