Chinese tourists are spending drastically more overseas
WHILE outbound travel from China still shows no sign of slowing down and Chinese expenditure on outbound travel surged 53 per cent to US$215 billion in 2015, inbound tourism into the country grew a mere three per cent, according to the Economic Impact Report 2016 by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
The WTTC research shows enormous opportunity for China to take greater benefit of the travel and tourism industry, which supports over 75 million jobs in the country and can help the Chinese government to fulfill its objective of shifting towards a more service-focused economy.
David Scowsill, president & CEO, WTTC, said: “China’s unparalleled investments in infrastructure over recent years have created a good foundation for the further expansion of tourism by increasing connectivity and the country’s tourism capacity.
“Interest in inbound tourism into China will thrive if there is resolve on continuing visa facilitation into the country and focusing on strong destination promotion,” he urged.
Chinese outbound travel favourably impacted Japan and longer-haul destinations such as Europe and Oceania.
On the contrary, severe declines were experienced in its neighbouring regions such as Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan due to local factors.
