By the end of 2014, 117 destination countries were receiving tour groups from China, underscoring the clout of the nation's “tourism diplomacy”.
According to new EU rules, Chinese visitors must submit fingerprints when applying for Schengen visas starting from October 12, 2015.
Arrivals to Hong Kong in the first half of 2015 grew only 2.8%, the slowest rate of growth since 2009 and retail industry is bracing itself for a wave of shop closures.
The World Travel and Tourism Council projects that China’s investments in tourism, estimated to total US$278.7 billion, will overtake the USA by 2025.
The number of Chinese visitors to France grew 50% y-o-y in the first quarter of 2015, and the France issued 56% more visas to Chinese nationals.
China is anticipated to overtake New Zealand to become the largest source of tourists to Australia in 2016, marking a milestone change in Australia’s tourism industry.
6,000 model tourism villages will be developed nation wide by 2020，and over 100,000 tourism locations will be formed with three million country guesthouses.
Although outbound tourism will be adversely affected by the RMB’s exchange rate if it continues to fall, immediate effects are expected to be limited.
