China expects ‘Golden Week’ income of $70bn – up 13.5%

By Doug Newhouse |

Top China Southern Airlines A380The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) reports that the number of travellers at home and abroad during ‘Golden Week’ is expected to total around 593m (+13%), with the official total tourism ‘income’ forecast currently standing at CY478bn ($70bn) – up around 13% on the comparative week-long vacation period in 2015.

While the numbers are still being counted, CNTA points to ‘a marked increase in tourist visits and spending’ during the national holiday period, which ran from 1-7 October earlier this month.

In its early appraisal of the sheer numbers, CNTA said that 104m people visited tourist attractions around the country on the Sunday (2 October), the second day of the holiday week, up 12.5% year on year. On the same day, ’nationwide tourist spending is also said to have risen by 16.1% year on year to CY84.5bn ($12.7bn)’, according to CNTA.

China Duty Free2 at Haitang Bay

China Duty Free’s downtown duty free shop at Haitang Bay is the world’s largest.

LARGE INTERNAL NUMBERS…

CNTA also reported a record day on the railways on the Saturday (1 October) with 14.4m passengers – a 15% year-on-year rise, according to the China Railway Corporation.

The CNTA also points to a survey by the China Tourism Academy and online travel agency Ctrip as the source for the aforementioned CY478bn forecast in tourism income expected from the holiday week.

 

 

HUGE RISE IN AIRLINE PASSENGERS

At the same time, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) also estimates that more than 9.9m passengers took airline trips during the week.

In total, a staggering 750m people are estimated to have taken some sort of holiday break during the week, although the official numbers have still to be finalised. One picture that is emerging – according to widespread reports in multiple Chinese media – is that Hong Kong and Taiwan may not have done as well as they would have liked.

Hong Kong airport large

Hong Kong continues to be the number one destination for Chinese visitors, despite the decline in numbers last year.

 

MACAU RECOVERY, OR BLIP?

However, Macau is said to have faired better with an estimated 6.9% rise in passenger arrivals to 970,000 Chinese visitors during the holiday week. Whether this is just a one off or welcome signs of a more positive trend remains to be seen.

It should be remembered that Hong Kong and Macao accounted for more than 63% of the 117m total outbound tourists from the Chinese Mainland in 2015. Despite the fact that total visits to Hong Kong in 2015 dropped by 4.3% to 45.8m, it still ranks top for mainland visitors.

Chinese numbers to South Korea are also said to have been strong, despite the political stand off that continues between the two countries over the deployment of a missile system in South Korea.

Global Blue chinese russian top 2

In terms of spending and visits to overseas countries, China continues to be the first in the world, according to the Xinhua News Agency, with Chinese tourist spending showing a year-on-year increase of 25%, to $292bn last year, followed by the US ($120bn), Germany ($76bn) and the UK ($63bn). (Photo credit: Global Blue).

 

59M CHINESE TRAVELLED OVERSEAS IN HY1 2016

Meanwhile, the CNTA has also confirmed that a total of more than 59m Chinese tourists have made overseas trips in the first six months of 2016 – equivalent to a 4.3% rise compared with the same period last year.

According to data released by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) China’s revenue from international tourism in 2015 amounted to $11.4bn, overtaking Spain’s former ranking as the second biggest in the world after the USA with $17.8bn.

As for spending and visits to overseas countries, China ranks first in the world, according to the Xinhua News Agency. Spending by Chinese tourists abroad witnessed a year-on-year increase of 25%, reaching $292bn, followed by the US ($120bn), Germany ($76bn) and the UK ($63bn).

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