China, Australia tourism on the rise

In the Western world, Australia is the fastest growing tourism market for China and Aussies are spending up big, according to the China National Tourism Administration’s latest results.

China saw 770,000 Australians visit the country last year, up by 6.7 percent and estimated to have contributed around AU$1 billion towards the Chinese economy, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Half of the visitors were tourists, 18 percent were business travellers and the remainder included expats and those visiting family.

“Compared with growth from other major western markets, such as the US increasing by 0.1 percent and the UK up by 3.8 percent, Australia is becoming one of China’s most valued sources of international visitors,” Beijing tourism commissioner Zhao Guangchao said.

Australia is also a highly desirable tourist destination for Chinese travellers, with China currently the second largest inbound market after Australia’s neighbouring country, New Zealand.

719,200 Chinese travellers arrived in Australia in the last 12 months to October, a 17.3 percent increase, contributing AU$4.5 billion towards the economy, a figure Tourism Australia expects to grow to over AU$9 billion.

Sourced: etravelblackboardasian