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Liu Zhen

Chinese tourists again spent more overseas than travellers from any other country last year, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, despite the nation’s weakening currency and slowing growth.
The UNWTO said spending by Chinese tourists hit US$261 billion in 2016, 12 per cent more than a year earlier.
The growth rate in 2016 was less than half the 25 per cent recorded the previous year.
The 2016 figures mark the 13th straight year of double-digit growth in overseas expenditure by tourists from the world’s most populous country.
Record 133 million Chinese tourists to travel out of mainland this year, with Hong Kong their top destination: report
The figures also mean China retained the top spender spot globally for the fifth year in a row, ahead of the United States, Germany, Britain and France, the agency said.
Chinese tourists spent more than twice the amount while overseas than US travellers did in 2016. American tourists spent US$122 billion last year, a rise of 8 per cent, according to UNWTO figures.
China’s emergence as an important source of travellers has been one of the key trends in the tourism industry in the last two decades.

In 2001, the year China joined the World Trade Organisation, only 12 million Chinese tourists went abroad. The number of Chinese tourists travelling overseas has since grown more than 10 fold, including by 6 per cent last year to 135 million.
Chinese tour groups are now seen across the globe, from Paris to New York, but some travellers have been criticised as being rude or disrespectful of local culture.
Chinese flee smog to go on ‘lung cleansing’ breaks overseas
The Tokyo police authority said it has obtained arrest warrants for two Chinese women after the Meiji Shrine in the Japanese capital was vandalised earlier this month with an oily liquid.
In another case, Chinese tourists allegedly moved stones at a beach in Iceland to spell out “China” in Chinese characters, according to media reports earlier this week.
The growth in outbound travel from China benefited many destinations in the Asia-Pacific region, most notably Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
The United States and several nations in Europe also gained.
Vietnam, Argentina, Egypt, Spain, India, Israel and Ukraine, Qatar and Thailand saw double-digit growth in outbound tourism last year, while Russia and Brazil posted significant decreases, the report said.


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Chinese tourists

China retains top spot as world’s big spender on overseas tourism

A Chinese tourist poses in front of the Sydney Opera House in Australia in March. According to the UN’s World Tourism Organisation, China’s international tourism expenditure last year hit US$261 billion, a rise of 12 per cent from 2015. Photo: Reuters

Tourists are seen at shopping area in Causeway Bay. 02MAR17 SCMP / Dickson Lee

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