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According to UN World Tourism Organization Secretary General Taleb Rifai, China will become the world's largest inbound and outbound tourist market within five to seven years. This is an extraordinary fact given where China was positioned a decade ago.
China received 53 million foreign visitors in 2010, putting the country in third place after overtaking Italy three years ago.
So what does this mean for marketers and Agencies? It means that given the significant impact of the Chinese tourism sector we can expect many to move into offering their inputs both from an inbound and outbound perspective.
The China Tourism Academy, meanwhile, reports that by 2015, China will become the number one source of international tourists, with 100 to 130 million visitors traveling to foreign countries, where they will spend an estimated $150 billion.
The competition for this Chinese tourist is hotting up with many Western markets trying to gain market awareness. Australia and New Zealand (among others) are already predicting Chinese tourist will be their No.1 market within the next 5 years (more here).
The China Tourism Academy forecasts that 57 million Chinese visitors will spend close to $68 billion in foreign countries this year. In 2010, 54 million Chinese traveled abroad, spending approximately $55 billion, a 60% increase since 2005.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Written on Thursday, 03 February 2011 13:31 by Matt McDougall
