World tourism has experienced terrorism, war and disease in the past two yeas, but it is still making modest progress despite all that. And china, both as an increasingly popular destination and as a source of outbound tourists, is providing the engine.
Last year, international tourist numbers hit a record 702.6 million, a rise by 2.7 percent over the previous year. Followed by Spain, the Unites State and Italy, France remained the most popular destination, receiving more than 77milion visitors.
China, however, registered an 11%growth in tourism over the same period, attracting 36.8 million international visitors, and was the fifth largest leading tourism nation. It is predicted that by 2020, china will beat France, with an estimation of 130million visitor per year. To achieve this goal, China will have to continue its rapid in the numbers of inbound tourists.
One reason why China is so popular is the long pent-up demand for traveling in China. China did not open up to the tourists until 1980s. In order to make up for the lost time, the country has been opening up more sites each year, such as some newly restored ancient temples and sections of the Great Wall.
The numbers are good news to the world tourism industry, for they show that several major terrorist blows to tourist spots, among them the bombing in Bali, do not mean the entire world is unsafe for travel.
After the hard blow dealt by the SARS epidemic, China’s tourism has undergone smooth recovery and Asia is again a dynamic region for the international travel industry with a total tourism revenue of $473 billion last year.
China has said repeatedly that tourists are safe in China and that it has made comprehensive preparations for containing any new outbreak of SARS.
With growing incomes, Chinese are also becoming a major force as outbound travelers. Their numbers are expected to reach 100 million by 2020.
Chinese are currently allowed by the government to visit just 28 countries, but with Chinese tourists becoming a major source of tourism income, more than 20 countries are now lobbying the Chinese government to put them on the list of approved destination.
The scope and potential for Chinese tourism is just enormous.
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