BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2019/10
According to China’s culture and tourism ministry, Chinese last year made 150 million trips abroad, a 15 % increase from 2017. Balance-of-payments figures show Chinese tourists spent 277 billion dollars on their travels, an upsurge of 8 % y-o-y.
The Chinese are now the world’s biggest tourist group. Top destinations include nearby Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and other Asian neighbours. The Hong Kong Tourism Board reports that mainland Chinese made 51 million visits to Hong Kong last year, an increase of 15 % y-o-y. Most visits were day trips.
Statistics Finland reports that 203,000 Chinese travellers spent at least one night in a Finnish inn or hotel last year, a 3 % decline from 2017. However, Chinese tourist total overnight stays increased by 6 %, while total overnight stays of foreign visitors were up just 1 %. 6 % of all foreign visitors staying in Finnish inns & hotels were Chinese. The number of Chinese tourists and overnight stays this January grew rapidly.