China reports growth in outbound tourists in 2019

Shanghai, Nov 12 (IANS) Chinese tourists made 155 million outbound international trips in 2019, up 3.3 per cent year on year, according to a report released by China Tourism Academy.Last year, consumption abroad by China's outbound tourists exceeded $133.8 billion, an increase of more than 2 per cent compared to the 2018 figure, the Xinhua news agency reported.Outbound trips made by Chinese tourists to other Asian countries and Europe increased in 2019. Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US, Russia and Australia were among the most popular overseas destinations.Although China's outbound tourism is affected by curbs on overseas travel due to Covid-19, tourist departments, travel agencies and other market entities in the industry have taken active and positive measures to rebuild confidence and reboot the market, the report said.China's domestic tourism market has seen an accelerated rebound amid regular epidemic prevention and control.A sizable 637 million domestic tourist visits were made during the eight-day Golden Week holiday last month, generating overall tourism revenue of 466.56 billion yuan (about $70.5 billion), official data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism shows.
--IANS rs/