Chinese tourists overtook travellers from Germany and the US to become the world's biggest spenders in 2012 with an expenditure totalling a record USD 102 billion.
Expenditure by Chinese tourists abroad has also increased almost eightfold since 2000.
A study by the United Nation's World Tourism Organisation said Chinese citizens' overall expenditure on overseas travel reached a record high of USD 102 billion last year registering a 40 per cent jump from a year earlier pushing China ahead of Germany and US, traditionally the top two spenders, the WTO report said.
Over the past decade China has been, and still is, by far the fastest-growing tourism source market in the world due to rapid urbanisation, rising disposable incomes and relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel, the volume of international trips by Chinese travellers has grown from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012.
Boosted by an appreciating Chinese currency, Chinese travellers spent a record USD 102 billion in international tourism in 2012, a 40 per cent jump from 2011 when it amounted to USD 73 billion, it said.
"With this sustained growth, China has become the largest spender in international tourism globally in 2012. In 2005 China ranked seventh in international tourism expenditure, and has since successively overtaken Italy, Japan, France and the United Kingdom.
"With the 2012 surge, China leaped to first place, surpassing both top spender Germany and second largest spender United States (both close to USD 84 billion in 2012)," the study said.
