China remains the world’s largest source market of outbound visitors and the biggest spenders around the world for the third year, as higher income and relaxed visa policies are prompting more and more Chinese travelers ,especially young people, to travel overseas. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), China contributes more than 13% of worldwide tourism annual income on average.
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) also reported that global tourism has been growing for the past six years, contributing 10% to global GDP and providing 9.5% of employments worldwide. The significant growth of China’s tourism industry has given the country greater international influence and underscored its status as a tourism powerhouse.
Data from China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) show that China’s outbound visitor traffic reached 120 million in 2015, up by 12% YoY, and Chinese tourists’ spending topped USD 104.5 billion, increased by 16.7% YoY. The Spring Festival holidays season is the most popular time for overseas travel, and the potential spending power of Chinese tourists is considered tremendous. The latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer reports that China’s outbound visitor traffic growing at double digits for the past 12 years makes China the world’s leading outbound visitor source market and a sustained driving force for global tourism.
In recent years, a high percentage of overseas trips take place during Lunar New Year holidays . Ctrip reported that 5.182 million overseas visits were made during the Spring Holidays in 2015. This year, 53% of the people who traveled during the Spring Holidays chose to travel overseas, and the record number of outbound visitors for this year’s holiday season was 10% higher than the same period last year. As the number of China’s outbound visits continues to soar in 2016, China’s outbound travel expenditure this year could reach RMB 90 billion, assuming overseas travelers spend an average of RMB 15,000 per person. Chinese outbound visitors splurged USD 116.8 billion on luxury goods, equivalent to 46% of global luxury goods sales, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
China is becoming the largest visitor source market for more and more countries in the world. United States Travel and Tourism Administration (USTTA) data show that Chinese travelers made 3 million trips to the United States in 2015, up by 16% YoY, and Chinese tourists spent USD 6,000-7,000 per capita, far higher than the spending of visitors from the rest of the world. Data of Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) also show that Chinese tourists spent USD 2,200 per capita in South Korea in 2015. The revenue brought comprehensive economic benefits equivalent to 1.6% of the country’s GDP. Australia received one million Chinese visitors in 2015 and generated tourism receipts of about RMB 35.5 billion from Chinese visitors, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Chinese travelers made more than two million trips to France in 2015, up from 1.7 million in 2014. Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has predicted that China will surpass the United States and become the largest business travel market in the world in 2016. (Translated by Jerry)
