China is the fourth largest source market for outbound tourists and has
China is the fourth largest source market for outbound tourists and has replaced the United States to be the third most popular destination for inbound tourists, the China National Tourism Administration said over the weekend.
China’s tourism industry developed steadily over the last five years, with 12 percent average annual increase in domestic tourists, a 3.5 percent annual increase in inbound overnight tourists and a 19 percent annual increase in outbound tourists, said Man Hongwei, director of the Department of Tourism Promotion with the National Tourism Administration, at a press conference Saturday.
The number of inbound tourists that stayed overnight in China increased 9.4 percent in 2010 over 2009 figures to 55.66 million visitors, said Man.
Foreign exchange income from inbound tourism grew 15.5 percent in 2010 over 2009 figures to $45.8 billion.
Outbound tourists increased 20.5 percent in 2010 to 57.39 million visitors.
Statistics released by the National Tourism Administration in March showed that from January to December 2010, the five largest source markets for foreign tourists to China were South Korea, Japan, Russia, the United States and Malaysia.
Among the 26.13 million inbound tourists in 2010, 12.38 million came for sightseeing and recreation, while the remaining 6.20 million came on business.
Last year, the top five most popular inbound tourist destinations in China were Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou.
Shenzhen topped the findings due to its close proximity to Hong Kong.
By 2015, China aims to have 66.3 million international overnight arrivals, 83.75 million Chinese tourists taking trips overseas and total tourism revenue of 2.3 trillion yuan, said Shao Qiwei, head of National