China becomes world’s biggest tourism spender

China has become the world largest single source market for international tourism revenues.

According to the latest data from the UNWTO, Chinese nationals spent a record US$102 billion on overseas travel 2012, taking it to the top of the international standings and making it the first country ever to achieved nine-digit spending in US dollar terms.

The result marks the culmination of a sharp rise in Chinese outbound travel over the past decade. In 2005 China ranked seventh in terms of international tourism expenditure, but quickly overtook Italy and then Japan, to become Asia’s biggest outbound market. It then surpassed France and the UK, and with the 2012 surge, China leaped into first place ahead of top revenue generator Germany and second biggest spender , the USA (both approximately US$84bn).

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