China is the world's largest outbound tourism market

China has officially become the world's largest outbound tourism market, after overtaking Germany and the US last year with an estimated 83 million overseas trips made by Chinese mainlanders, according to CRI Online — the website of state broadcaster China Radio International, citing China Tourism Academy in its 2013 report released on Wednesday. Chinese tourists spent US$102 billion offshore last year, totalling 83 million tourists, over 18% more than the previous year and equal to the population of Germany, and four times that of Australia, said Jiang Yiyi, a leading researcher at the academy. The country's outbound tourism has seen a lot of changes, said Jiang, including the steady rise in the number of tourists wanting to explore outside of the country and to regions outside of Asia, adding that people's economic situation has also improved. Jiang projects China's outbound tourists this year will grow 15% to 94.3 million, and their spending to increase to 20% and US$118 billion. Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, said many foreign countries have relaxed restrictions on Chinese tourists, allowing them greater freedom to visit new countries. Last year, Australia approved 94% of visa for Chinese individuals and business tourists, a record high. The US has also increase the amount of visas approved to Chinese tourists by 40% with plans to process visa applications for 2.2 million Chinese nationals this year alone, Dai added. China's outbound tourism accounts for a significant proportion of the global travel market and has become a new engine for growth. But many Chinese tourists have reported consumer fraud and expressed dissatisfaction at high traveling prices, and insufficient Chinese-language services, said Dai, adding that he hopes the international community can do more to offer better services. The report also included a customer satisfaction survey with Chinese tourists giving an average satisfaction rating of 78.07 for their experience overseas or averagely satisfied. The survey focused on 22 foreign destinations, with Canada receiving the highest satisfaction level, followed by Italy, Spain and New Zealand. Source: Want China Times from China Travel & Tourism News http://www.chinatraveltourismnews.com/

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 701383