BEIJING – A record 56 million mainland tourists traveled overseas last year, Shao Qiwei, head of the China National Tourism Administration, said on Wednesday.
That number is 2 million more than an earlier estimate of 54 million, and is also an increase of 8.3 million over 2009.
In contrast, 55.7 million overseas tourists visited China and stayed for at least one night last year, up 9.5 percent year-on-year. In total, 134 million overseas visitors came to China, up 6 percent year-on-year, spending $45 billion in the country.
Meanwhile domestic tourists made 2.1 billion …

A record number of visitors from China helped boost the number of tourists to New Zealand by 3 per cent in November.
Last month 226,500 visitors came to New Zealand for a short period, Statistics New Zealand said yesterday. The numbers were up 6600 on the same month a year ago, but 3400 below the record for November in 2006.
A fall in the number of visitors from Britain and continental Europe was offset by more tourists from China (up 34.5 per cent to 14,875).
The Chinese market, boosted by growing trade with …

Outbound from China (mainland) and Hong Kong this year growing in double digits! Ranked respectively first and fourth in Asia by international tourism expenditure, strong rebound of significant markets like China and Hong Kong is trend not to be missed!
In the first 10 months this year, revenue of air tickets sold and outbound businesses of travel agents in Hong Kong grew respectively by 36.5% and 35.3%! Such strong growths extend also to long haul destinations. For example, South Australia reported inbound from Hong Kong in the last financial year ending …

Asia Pacific is powering ahead as one of the most dynamic regions for world tourism in 2010. Outbound travel is increasing at double-digit rates and will end this year well ahead of 2008 levels, thus setting a new record, according to the newly-published ITB World Travel Trends Report from Messe Berlin. The prospects for further growth in 2011 are looking good.
New all-time high for outbound travel in 2010
Asia Pacific is demonstrating this year that it is one of the engines driving world tourism forwards. In 2009 there was a 9% …

China is seen as a golden market for the meeting and convention industry.
There are an estimated 7 million private firms in the nation.
Many host their conferences and incentive tours overseas due to the slow development of their domestic conference business.
Delegations from Jeju Island recently visited China to grab their attention.
More than 10 teams from the Jeju Tourism Organization, the Jeju Tourism Association, and some Jeju-based travel agencies held business sessions in the cities of Beijing, Dalian, and Shenyang.
[Interview : Moon Kyung-ho Jeju Tourism Organization ] “We used to host …

The outbound tourism sector in Guangdong province is enjoying a busy winter season but tourists may have to shorten their shopping lists due to tougher customs regulations.
Although the Christmas-New Year shopping bargains available in overseas destinations are still attracting Chinese tourists, holidaymakers will have to adjust to tighter limits imposed by customs this year.
Chinese customs authorities have reinstated the 5,000-yuan ($750) limit for customs duty exemption and stepped up inspections against smuggling at some checkpoints, such as those in the Guangdong cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai, which border Hong Kong …

Auckland International Airport, the national gateway, continued to enjoy growing numbers of Asian visitors as its international passengers grew last month.
Total international passenger volumes rose 3.8% to 661,384 in October from the same month a year earlier, the company said in a statement today.
That’s up 2.7% on a rolling 12-month basis.
Domestic passenger numbers grew 2.9% in the month, and are up an annual 7.2%.
Airport “passenger growth of 3.8% was driven by strong New Zealand and Asian growth, while traditional long-haul markets of UK and USA remain relatively weak,” the company …

THE Chinese are coming. By their millions. As tourists. And it will change our economy in ways that we cannot even imagine.
Tourism is already our third largest export industry behind only coal and iron ore. Almost six million people will visit this year. The industry employs more than half a million people.
In terms of numbers of visitors, China is already our fourth largest source of tourists, but in terms of their value to our economy, Chinese tourists rank second, just behind the UK. But that is based on only …

Tourists enter the Louvre museum in Paris.With a rising middle class and stronger currency exchange,Chinese tourists have been flocking to Europe in increasing numbers,providing a boost to the continent’s tourism industry. [Bloomberg]

Internet-savvy youth provide growing market for online tour companies

BEIJING – To catch a glimpse of the mystical northern lights, ride scooters across snowy forests, or catch a 15-kg king crab from the cold sea, is a privilege that is being enjoyed by more and more wealthy Chinese.
The “Chasing Northern Lights” voyage …

This past summer Canada joined a list of 130 nations to be granted approved destination status — ADS — from China.
Without a doubt, the announcement is a golden opportunity to lift sagging Canadian tourism numbers.
But destinations and tourism operators must be cautious in their growth estimates for a number of reasons.
Outbound Chinese travel is expected to reach 100 million trips by 2015, and there is little doubt that there is pent-up travel enthusiasm for Canada. However, Canada’s 2010 starting point is just 160,833 annual Chinese visitors. About …

Chinese are the biggest-spending foreign tourists in Korea, according to a survey released on Monday.
In the survey of 296 domestic travel agencies by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 59.7 percent said Chinese tourists spend more than their Japanese and Western counterparts.
Chinese shoppers preferred cosmetics and imported luxury goods. The favorite items among younger tourists were fashion accessories and clothes (16.3 percent) and electronics (10.5 percent), while older visitors mainly bought food and alcohol (18.9 percent).
The most satisfying aspects of visiting here were shopping for Korean goods (28.3 percent), …

China’s outbound tourism will survive the coming economic downturn in China, because Chinese are not travelling for indiviual pleasure.

The Japanese government on Thursday relaxed visa rules applicable to Chinese nationals to encourage more tourists to visit and help boost the nation’s flagging retail sector.
In July 2009, Japan began granting individual tourist visas to Chinese nationals who earn 250,000 yuan (36,000 U.S. dollars) a year or more, but the conditions have been eased to encourage more Chinese people to choose Japan as their vacation destination spot. “Chinese middle-class families with certain income level and employment status can also make individual trips to Japan, without joining group tours,” Takahisa Kashiwagi, …

Canada is rolling out the welcome mat for Chinese visitors now that it has secured its long awaited Approved Destination Status (ADS), but bargain-price trips won’t be among the offerings according to officials in the country’s tourism sector.
With Canada receiving the designation on Thursday during President Hu Jintao’s state visit to Canada ahead of the G20 summit in Ontario this weekend, Chinese tourists can now visit the country in organized, pre-sold tourist groups.
Canada joins a list of 130-plus nations and regions designated to receive Chinese travelers. However, unlike some earlier …

At the second Straits Forum in Fujian, a Taiwanese tour operator said visitors from the Chinese mainland will soon be allowed to travel to Taiwan, alone.
Currently, mainland visitors have to book through an agent and travel with a group.
Zeng Junxiong, Executive Director of China Straits Culture Tourism Assoc. said “By the end of the year, tourists from the mainland will be permitted to travel to Taiwan on their own. The new regulation will bring a new wave of mainland visitors to Taiwan. A platform like the Strait Forum attracts many …

CANBERRA, June 21 – Australian federal government on Monday announced spending of 30 million dollars (26.3 million U.S. dollars) on luring more Chinese tourists to Australia.
“China is expected to emerge as Australia’s number one source market for international visitors in the next few years,” Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in a statement.
The government will stage a forum “in the near future” in Cairns of Queensland on boosting two-way tourism.
A key goal is to tempt more Chinese visitors, especially from regional areas, to north Queensland.
Tourism Australia’s “There’s Nothing Like Australia” …

China is New Zealand’s fourth-largest tourism market, with more than 100,000 visitors for the year to April 30.
Tourism operators offering shoddy New Zealand tours for Chinese visitors are the target of a revised code of conduct aimed at cleaning up the industry.
Tourism New Zealand introduced a code of conduct in November 2007 aimed at improving the quality of tours for Chinese visitors, one of New Zealand’s fastest growing tourist markets.
Two buses involved in tours around the Queenstown-Milford Sound area were deemed “not fit for service”, after inspections by the Transport …

China is leading the global tourism industry, having done what few other countries -including developed Western nations – have not:  acknowledge the effects that the travel and tourism industry have on the economy.
China has declared tourism to be “a strategic pillar of its economic reform,” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of London-based World Travel and Tourism Council, at the WTTC’s 10th annual summit Wednesday in Beijing.
Last November, the State Council approved policies that will promote the industry under the “Guidelines to Accelerate the Development of the Tourism Industry.”
The world’s leaders in …

The Internet has become the most popular medium for Chinese travelers seeking information about their trips, according the latest Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor. The Nielsen survey found that travelers will search for conventional destination information ahead of their trips (61 percent of leisure trips taken), and then turn to online travel discussion forums (48 percent) to fine-tune their plans — suggesting that opinions and comments about travel experiences posted to online forums are nearly as likely to influence travelers’ decisions as the destination websites themselves. Conventional travel …

A five-month survey in China has found, despite the global financial crisis, 56.6 percent of the surveyed are maintaining plans for trips to Europe during the next two years.
France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece and Britain are the top five destinations.
The survey, co-conducted by the Beijing-based K&D Consulting Co. Ltd and a number of European tourism bureaus and travel agencies, covered 14, 391 qualified samples.
About 44.5 percent said the downturn would not have any impact on their Europe-bound tours. Only 25.2 percent expressed concern about the crisis, and would change their plans …