Melbourne airport shuttle Skybus' business has soared over the past week during China's Golden Week holidays as Chinese tourists change gear into more independent travel.

The number of Chinese tourists travelling from Melbourne airport to the city this week using Skybus has increased 145 per cent, with most of the users paying with credit and debit cards issued by UnionPay, China's dominant card provider.

The Meat & Wine Co. Barangaroo - popular with Chinese consumers.

National Day Golden Week is an 8-day holiday in China which started last weekend. About 6 million Chinese tourists were expected to leave China during this time, Chinese portals Juwai.com and Ctrip.com said.

While Chinese tourists once preferred shopping, tour buses and property purchases when they travel abroad during their long holidays, this year, increasingly well-travelled Chinese tourists are now looking for more sophisticated local products and services like fine dining, cultural activities and boutique serviced apartments over hotels, travel agents and service providers say.

The Skybus is enjoing increased patronage during China's Golden Week

Photo: Roy Chu

"Fancy handbags and fine pearls are no longer the most important thing to the average Chinese tourists. They have matured and are now looking at more sophisticated and cultural experiences," UnionPay Regional General Manager James Yang said.

"They also no longer just reserve fancy five-star hotels but are opting for serviced apartments. Even museums and galleries are on the list."

"There is a saying that Chinese tourists get off the tourist bus just to take pictures and go to the bathroom, that is no longer the case."

Partnerships with UnionPay have also helped businesses increase their Chinese customers. With Skybus, Chinese customers who pay with their UnionPay card get a discount. Skybus also offers other popular Chinese payment systems such as Tencent's WeChat Pay and Alibaba's Alipay.

The stylish Meat & Wine Co Southbank popular with the Chinese.  

Fine dining restaurants like the Meat & Wine Co, popular with Chinese customers looking for good Australian beef, have also had a surge in Chinese interest in the past two years. It also has a partnership with UnionPay but has yet to measure the outcome of that partnership on their business.

One of China's biggest online travel agency iTrip.com says the wealthy middle-class Chinese tourists aged between 25 and 36 do not come to Australia to travel in buses, but to "tour the Opera House on their own and do the BridgeClimb".

A good steak and a glass of wine are a hit with Chinese tourists

Photo: Melanie

"These groups don't go on tours...they want local experiences and are independent. They want to buy local products like cosmetics and food," iTrip's Bob Liu said.

But certain Chinese staples haven't changed.

UnionPay's Yang said the fishmarket was still very popular with seafood-loving Chinese tourists.

Australian vitamins, health products, and milk powder were also selling well, one of the largest service provider of WeChat Pay and Alipay Royal Pay said.

Property purchases also continue but not with the same urgency as previous years, international property group Juwai.com says.

"Golden Week is no longer as important for the real estate industry as it used to be. Chinese are more sophisticated about international property and they are traveling overseas more often," Juwai.com head of Australia Jane Lu said.

"Overall, we estimate that sellers and agents appealing to Chinese buyers this year could see a 20 per cent increase in activity during the holiday."

"Golden Week purchasers are more often higher-end buyers."