China arrivals fall in Q1 2013
According to the latest data from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), released on Friday 12 April 2013 and reported by Xinhua, the country welcomed 31.6 million international visitors in the first three months of the year, down 2% compared to Q1 2012. China’s domestic tourism sector continues to be buoyant however, with approximately one billion mainland Chinese travelling within the country in the first quarter, up 14% year on year. Total tourism revenues expanded 16% year-on-year to CNY835 billion (US$134bn), according to the CNTA.
More Chinese also travelled abroad in the January-March 2013 period, with outbound numbers reaching 22.6m, up 16% year-on-year.
The Q1 2013 figures continue the Chinese tourism trends experienced in 2012, when inbound tourist numbers dipped to 1.5%, only to be offset by a 10% surge in domestic travel.
The outbound growth meanwhile, continues China’s progress towards becoming the world’s biggest source market for international tourism. According to recent data by the UNWTO, the volume of international trips by Chinese travellers has surged from just 10m in 2000 to 83m in 2012 and the country last year overtook the US and Germany to become the world’s biggest source of international tourism receipts, spending a record US$102bn on overseas travel 2012.