Boom in Chinese foreign travel continues

BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/20

Chinese foreign travel has soared in recent years. Compared to 2010, the number of trips abroad doubled last year and the amount spent abroad was six times larger. China’s National Tourism Administration reports that Chinese made nearly 130 million trips abroad last year. PBoC balance-of-payments figures further show Chinese travellers abroad spent a total of approximately $300 billion in 2015 (the equivalent of about 3 % of GDP). The UN’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reports that both the number of tourists and the money spent per traveller have increased so much that Chinese are now the world’s most significant tourist group. American tourists were the second-biggest spenders abroad last year ($120 billion). Russian travellers spent $35 billion.

The top destinations for Chinese are countries in East and Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. The Chinese typically travel in groups and often purchase luxury products. Chinese are expected to travel even more in coming years as the country grows more affluent.

Finland’s national tourism promotion board “Visit Finland” reports that the number of Chinese visitors arriving in Finland last year exceeded 500,000, or about a third more than in 2014. The Chinese were the fourth largest tourist group after Russians, Swedes and Estonians, and the second biggest spenders after Russians. Chinese arriving in Finland as transfer passengers at the airport make up a third of Chinese tourists, but the number of overnight stays by Chinese travellers also increased some 40 % last year.

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