China poised to become world’s largest outbound tourism market this year

China’s inbound and outbound tourism market will further accelerate in 2024, with the total number of inbound and outbound trips exceeding 264 million and international tourism revenue topping $107 billion, according to a report from the China Tourism Academy as reported by Global Times.

Data from Tuniu Travel website showed that bookings for group tours during Chinese New Year beginning on Feb. 10 has significantly increased compared to the same period last year.

Popular outbound destinations for Chinese tourists included Thailand, Singapore, the Maldives, Russia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Nordic countries, it showed.

By the end of last year, the number of China’s international scheduled passenger flights had increased to almost 4,800 flights per week, equivalent to 63% of pre-pandemic levels, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

The rapid recovery of international flights has boosted the number of outbound trips.

China will likely regain the title as the world’s largest outbound tourism market this year, Wolfgang Arlt, director of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, said as cited by China Daily.

In 2019, Chinese tourists made 155 million overseas visits, spending a staggering $255 billion, data from the China Tourism Academy showed.

Chinese travelers spent $1,350 per person on average, according to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council.

China closed its borders for nearly three years due to Covid-19. Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were the biggest source of market for most Southeast Asian countries.

In 2019, over 11 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand, accounting for more than a quarter of its total foreign arrivals while Vietnam received 5.5 million Chinese tourists that year.

But the number of Chinese visitors to Thailand dropped to 3.51 million last year, and to Vietnam 1.74 million.