AN ESTIMATED 54 million Chinese travelled overseas last year, spending around US$48 billion, according to findings by the China Tourism Academy (CTA).
CTA expects three million additional Chinese travellers to cross a border this year, spending an additional US$7 billion.
Dr Wolfgang Georg Arlt, director of COTRI (China Outbound Tourism Research Institute), said: “Compared to the 47.7 million outbound travellers in 2009, the estimates by CTA represent an increase of more than 13 per cent, the second-highest growth rate since 2004. This also exceeds the planned growth rate of nine per cent per year, which was published by the State Council in November 2009.”
COTRI believed CTA’s estimate of an additional three million travellers this year was conservative, predicting instead double-digit growth that would bring Chinese outbound numbers to more than 60 million.
“Without extraordinary circumstances like a new SARS or Swine Flu scare, there is no reason why the affluent Chinese consumers should stop showing off to the world their increased purchasing power in the major tourism destinations of the world,” said Dr Arlt.
