China consolidated its leadership as the biggest spender in travel abroad in 2017
TravelBizNews —
Madrid – China consolidated its leadership as the biggest spender in travel abroad in 2017 with US$ 258 billion in expenditure.
All top 25 source markets reported higher spending on international tourism in 2017, as highlighted in the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.
Strong tourism expenditure reflects enhanced connectivity, increased visa facilitation and a global economic upswing.
The other three BRIC economies all substantially increased expenditure in 2017. The Russian Federation rebounded after a few years of declines, to reach US$ 31 billion, climbing three places to re-enter the top ten at number 8.
Brazil also recovered strongly and moved up eight places to number 16 with US$ 19 billion in expenditure.
India continued its rise with 9% growth in spending to US$ 18 billion and moved up four places in the ranking to 17th.
Advanced economies also performed robustly in 2017, led by the United States , the world’s second largest outbound market. US travellers spent US$ 12 billion more on international tourism to US$ 135 billion. Expenditure from Germany (3rd largest market) and the United Kingdom (4th) both increased 3%, and from France (5th) 1%.
Australia (6th) reported 7% growth and Canada (7th) a 9% increase. Completing the top ten are the Republic of Korea (9th) where expenditure grew by 9% and Italy (10th) where it increased by 6%.
Beyond the top ten, tourism spending also grew notably in Sweden and Spain. Source: UNWTO
2018
Image: A popular destination in China – Sanya, Hainan
