China had the highest number of outbound tourists and amount of overseas spending in the world last year, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Ninety-seven million Chinese traveled abroad in 2013, beating the 2012 mark by roughly 14 million, according to the China National Tourism Administration. The number is expected to surpass 100 million this year.
The report released on Wednesday by the Tourist Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said that China\’s tourists have had the world\’s strongest purchasing power since 2012. They overtook German and US tourists as the world\’s biggest-spending travelers in 2012, spending $102 billion overseas, a 40-percent increase from 2011.
Most Chinese tourists traveled to Asian and European countries, the report said, accounting for 75 percent of overseas tourists in those countries.
Song Rui, director of the center, said the 2013 figures for overseas spending have yet to be released, but there will \”definitely\” be a new record by Chinese tourists.
\”Chinese tourists spend so much abroad that some foreigners are calling us the \’walking wallets\’, \” Song said, who added that Chinese travelers who purchased luxury products during the 2012 London Olympics led Britons to coin the term \”Peking Pound\” for Chinese spending power.
The report said Chinese tourists spent on average $7,107 per person during their trips in the US in 2011. The average amount of spending by a tourist in the US that year, according to the US Commerce Department, was $2,440.
With increased spending and traveling by Chinese travelers, more travel service providers in foreign countries are adjusting their business models. Hotel groups, including Hilton Worldwide and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, have designed new services specifically for Chinese customers.
via At 97m and growing, China has most outbound tourists – Chinadaily.com.cn.
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