Currently only 0.4% of the Chinese people are passionate skiers while in central and north Europe, the number is around 25%, according to data from Germany-based sport news outlet ISPO.
CNTA projects that the number of outbound trips from China during the upcoming 2017 Chinese New Year holidays will total 6 million; and cruise travel, winter holidays, family trips and theme tours will continue to be popular.
China’s tourism revenues in 2016 is projected to have reached RMB 4.69 trillion, up by 13.6% YoY. The industry has contributed more than 10.26% to the country’s employment in the year.
China’s travel agencies organized 17.02 million outbound trips in the third quarter of 2016, up by 23.1% YoY, according to CNTA data.
Visits by China's outbound tourists are forecast to reach 150 million in 2020 from 117 million in 2015, up 5.09% each year, according to the country's tourism authority.
Island vacation platform Qulv announced on January 5 that it has received USD 40 million in its series B round funding.
China has become "the world's largest outbound tourism market" and "the world's fourth largest tourist destination", according to the country's tourism authority.
China plans to raise tourism revenue to RMB 7 trillion (USD 1 trillion) by 2020, the Chinese government said. The sector made more than RMB 4 trillion in 2015.