China’s inbound tourism had a slightly better first quarter this year compared to last year, according to the 2015 Q1 Inbound Tourism Report published by the China National Tourism Administration.
China welcomed 4% more inbound visitors in Q1, totaling 31.38 million. The number of visitors staying overnight increased 2% to 13.11 million. Inbound tourism receipt totaled US$12.8 billion, slightly higher than in the same period last year.
Visitors from Hong Kong formed the largest group of inbound visitors, followed by visitors from Macau and overseas, at about the same level, and then visitors from Taiwan. Visitor arrivals in the first quarter of the year had been declining since 2012, then bottomed out in Q1 last year. Arrivals number in Q1 this year showed signs of recovery with y-o-y growth of 4%.
Spending by foreign visitors that has been increasing every year totaled US$7.443 billion in Q1 and formed the bulk of inbound tourism revenue. Hong Kong visitors spent a total of US$2.885 billion, while Taiwan visitors spent US$1.574 billion and Macau visitors spent US$902 million.
Among foreign visitors, Korean visitors made up the largest group with a record 992,900 arrivals in Q1. Although the number of Japanese visitors has been on a downward trend in recent years, they were still the second largest foreign visitor group with 580,300 arrivals. The number of US visitors has been increasing and they were the third largest foreign visitor group with 468,800 arrivals. Meanwhile, the number of visitors from Vietnam has been growing at increasingly higher rates.
By region, visitors from Asia comprised 64%, while Europe was 18%, USA contributed 13%, Oceania at 3% and Africa at 2%.
The top ten countries in terms of internet search volume about China tourism were: Korea, Japan, the UK, Australia, the USA, India, France, Canada, Germany and Indonesia.
The top Chinese attractions searched online abroad were: The Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors Mausoleum in Xian, the Forbidden City, Xihu Lake, Jiuzhaigou National Park, Beijing Temple of Heaven, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Shaolin Temple, Huangshan Mountain and the Summer Palace.
The top ten Chinese destinations searched online abroad were: Shanghai, Tibet, Beijing, Guangzhou, Lhasa, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing and Qingdao.(Translation by David)
