Tourism in China

Shanghai's skyline attracts foreign and domestic tourists to view it from the Bund
Kuling Poster in the 1920s, Kuling, Jiujiang

Tourism in China is a growing industry that is becoming a significant part of the Chinese economy. The rate of tourism has expanded over the last few decades since the beginning of reform and opening-up. The emergence of a newly rich middle class and an easing of restrictions on movement by the Chinese authorities are both fueling this travel boom. China has become one of world's largest outbound tourist markets. According to Euromonitor International, economic growth and higher incomes in nearby Asian countries will help China to become the world's number one tourist destination by 2030.[1]

China ranked second in the world for travel and tourism's contribution to GDP in 2022 ($814.1 billion), and first in the world for travel and tourism's contribution to employment (66,086,000 jobs in 2014).[2] Tourism, based on direct, indirect, and induced impact, accounted for 9.3 percent of China's GDP in 2013.[3] In 2017, the total contributions of China's Travel and Tourism sector made up 11% of its GDP.[4] In 2018, the domestic tourism sector contributed around US$1.47 trillion to the nation's GDP.[5]

Since 2012, tourists from China have been the world's top spender in international tourism, leading global outbound travel. In 2016, the country accounted for 21% of the world's international tourism spending, or $261 billion.[6] (The stats include journeys made to the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, as well as Taiwan; in 2017, these accounted for 69.5m of the so-called "overseas" journeys.) As of 2018, only 7% of Chinese had a passport, so the "potential for further growth is staggering", according to a UK news report.[7]

  1. ^ "China will be the world's most visited country by 2030". the Guardian. 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  2. ^ "News Article | World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)". wttc.org. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Is China attracting foreign visitors? was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "The Tourism & Hotel Industry in China - Growth, Trends and Forecasts (2018-2023) - ResearchAndMarkets.com". www.businesswire.com. 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  5. ^ ltd, Research and Markets. "Hospitality Industry in China - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)". www.researchandmarkets.com. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  6. ^ "China accounts for 21% of international tourism spending - UNWTO". thepienews.com.
  7. ^ Smith, Oliver (11 April 2018). "The unstoppable rise of the Chinese traveller – where are they going and what does it mean for overtourism?". The Telegraph.