China’s citizens spent 53 percent more on travel and tourism in 2015; WTTC

Monday 21st of March 2016

Chinese tourists spent 53 percent more on travel and tourism, from $140 billion in 2014 to $215 billion in 2015, says the World Travel and Tourism Council, quoted by the Financial Times.

Despite the economic slowdown, these Chinese are spending more on travelling overseas than ever before. “[Chinese] outbound tourism is growing like crazy,” says David Scowsill, president and chief executive of the WTTC as quoted by the FT.

“There were some significant shocks last year, in the stock market and the currency, but it didn’t slow the growth of travel and tourism. Once people have started to travel, they are reluctant to give that up.”

According to the WTTC, China’s travel industry is set to further expand by around 7 percent per year over the next decade, beating global growth of 4 percent and overtaking the US by 2024.

However, not all countries have seen an increase in Chinese tourism. Macau, South Korea and Hong Kong, who are reliant on Chinese visitors, reported a 32 percent, 10.2 percent and 8.4 percent decline in Chinese visitation respectively in 2015.

Japan was the only north-east Asian country to benefit from the rise in Chinese tourism, seeing a 47 percent increase in arrivals.

Spend Chinese tourists Outbound tourism