Chinese tourists on spending spree

Chinese tourist spending abroad rose 14 percent in 2005 to 21.8 billion dollars (17 billion euros) compared to 2004 as more and more people in the world's most populous nation get the travel bug, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) reported Wednesday.

The past two years have seen Chinese tourist arrivals race ahead from a virtual standing start since Beijing signed an Authorised Destination Status accord with the European Union allowing Chinese nationals to travel to 22 EU states on a visa.

That, and sustainedly strong economic growth in recent years has left increasing swathes of Chinese sufficiently wealthy to travel long-haul.

The WTO, a UN agency, has called on European tourist authorities to study the impact of Chinese demand after dubbing China one of the "great hopes" for the sector in the coming years.

A recent WTO report estimated that Chinese tourists visiting foreign destinations will number 100 million by 2020, having already risen from 20 million in 2003 to 31 million in 2005.

WTO figures show that last year 71 percent of Chinese tourists travelled only as far as Hong Kong and Macao with a further 17 percent staying within Asia.

However, the organisation forecasts that Chinese visitors to Europe will treble to at least five million by 2020.

Last week, a Global Trends Report published in London highlighted the 14 million Asian travellers who came to Europe in 2005 but warned that much of the continent needed to do a lot more to prepare for them.

The report said many European countries were unprepared for the influx with too few shops accepting international credit cards or, for example, too few documents translated into Chinese and said visitors might elect to go elsewhere.

Sector analysts say Chinese tourists will generate some 94 billion US dollars (74 billion euros) in revenues by 2020.

Tourism is a major earner in countries such as Spain, second only to France as a favourite worldwide destination and where the sector is worth some 12 percent of GDP.

AFP