This is actually pretty interesting, China has overtaken both the US and Germany to become the world’s largest source market for outbound tourism by expenditures for 2012. From the interesting New York Times – Wooing, and Also Resenting, Chinese Tourists article:
The Ugly Americans terrorized Europeans and Asians with their booming voices and tennis shoes in the years after World War II. Decades later, Japanese tour groups descended from their air-conditioned buses to flash peace signs as they shot photos of every known landmark as well as laundry on backyard clotheslines. Now it is China’s turn to face the brunt of complaints. The grievances are familiar — they gawk, they shove, they eschew local cuisine, and last year, 83 million mainland Chinese spent $102 billion abroad — overtaking Americans and Germans — making them the world’s biggest tourism spenders, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
From Yahoo!, among mainland Chinese travelers in July and August of this year, these are the top 20 most popular outbound tourist destinations (percentages reflect stunning growth rates over the same period last year):
1. Hong Kong, China (50%)
2. Phuket, Thailand (250%)
3. Taiwan (350%)
4. Bangkok, Thailand (270%)
5. Paris, France (360%)
6. Dubai, UAE (210%)
7. Macau, China (50%)
8. Seoul, South Korea (180%)
9. Singapore (170%)
10. Bali, Indonesia (310%)
11. Rome, Italy (180%)
12. Chiang Mai, Thailand (180%)
13. New York, United States (280%)
14. London, United Kingdom (120%)
15. Jeju Island, South Korea (570%)
16. Boracay, Philippines (360%)
17. Kyoto, Japan (580%)
18. Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia (550%)
19. Hanoi, Vietnam (510%)
20. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (190%)
Related – Ritz-Carlton Is Coming to Wherever You (and the Chinese) Want to Be
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7 comments
Chinese tourists do not outnumber American/German tourists at all! From reading the NYTimes article, the Chinese spent the most $$$ at $102 billion abroad, but they didn’t outnumber American/German tourists.
Lock the chinese in!! Dont let them out!!! Rude behaviors! Loud! Cut lines! Aaahhhhh!!!!
This article assumes that all tourists spend an equal amount of money while abroad.
The previous comments are ridiculous. The article indicates that Chinese tourists as a whole now outspend US and German tourists–which is accurate. Yes, Chinese tourists probably don’t spend as much PER tourist, but the article doesn’t try to say that.
As for the “lock the Chinese in” comment, please keep your own racism and prejudice to yourself. American tourists have been known as anathema for decades for many reasons, but one wouldn’t justify that as being true for all American tourists. The same is true for Chinese tourists.
China’s expanding economy means Chinese tourists will continue to spread their wings. Currently, the list of Chinese tourist destinations still largely involves Asia, with only Paris, Rome, Dubai, London, and New York being exceptions in the top 20 urban markets visited. That will change in the coming decade as the Chinese begin to venture further afield to the Americas (San Francisco, Los Angeles in N America and Rio and Buenos Aires likely next) and other European locales. Hotels and tourist services will begin to adapt, offering more menu and activity options that cater to the Chinese, just as they did for American and Euro travelers in the past 40+ years.
Bill, relax. By “this article,” I was referring to this blog post. Read the title of this post. The wording begs for clarity.
Outnumbering and outspending are distinguishable terms. I think we both understand this. We don’t need a geoeconomical rant about the tourism industry to appreciate that.
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