Macao logs 374,625 tourist arrivals during May day holidays. May 6, Xinhua

Chinese outbound travelers' average budget $3,000. May 3, Xinhua

Number of Hotel rooms in Macao surges to 16,148 in 2007

Overseas tourist visits to Beijing hit new monthly high
 Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2007 - A record 472,000 overseas tourists arrived in the Chinese capital in October, pushing the number of foreign visitors to the city to 3.68 million in the first 10 months.

Sources with the Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau said on Wednesday that October arrivals were 13.6 percent higher than the same period a year earlier.

During the January-October period, foreign nationals made 3.23 million visits to Beijing, up 14.2 percent. Compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan contributed 449,000 visits, up 3.1 percent.

The combined figure was a 12.7-percent increase over the same period in 2006, a growth rate of 5.5 percentage points.

The United States was the city's number one source of overseas tourists with 521,000 arrivals, up 21.7 percent, in the first 10 months. Japan was second with 488,000 visits, up 20.1 percent, followed by the ROK at 383,000, an increase of 6.8 percent.

China to be Asia's 2nd biggest tourist destination in 2006

3.4 mln Passenger to Travel by Air in May Day Holiday
Xinhua, April 20, 2007 - China's airlines are expected to carry a total of 3.4 million passengers during the upcoming weeklong May Day holiday, up 12 percent year on year, the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) forecast on Thursday. The priority is safe flights all over the country, said administration sources. Maintenance of aircraft and other equipment has been reinforced. Overtime work is prohibited for flight crews and air traffic control departments are required to closely monitor weather changes and provide accurate forecasts. The administration also vowed to crack down on illegal activities to ensure the safety of passengers.

100m Passengers Travel by Train During Holiday
March 1, 2007 - China's railways transported around 100 million passengers during the 25-day Spring Festival travel rush, Wang Yongping, spokesman of the Ministry of Railways announced here at a press conference Wednesday. By 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, the travel flow by railway has reached 93.4 million, 2.56 million more than the same period of last year. With an estimated 4.81 million added Wednesday, the figure will press 100 million, according to Wang.

Shanghai's Pudong Airport Has Most Passengers from Abroad
Xinhua, Jan. 9, 2007 - Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China's leading metropolis, handled 17.15 million passengers from overseas last year, up 9.4 percent year-on-year and besting other Chinese airports. According to the Pudong Entry and Exit Frontier Inspection Station, the figure included a record 9 million foreign passengers, up 8 percent year-on-year. Beijing's Capital National Airport handled 12.6 million overseas passengers, and Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou ranked third among mainland airports. Figures for Hong Kong were not available at press time. (Click for full report)

Last day of week-long Chinese New Year holiday sees record number of travellers
People's Daily, Feb. 25, 2007 A record 56.53 million people were expected to travel around the country on Saturday, the last day of the week-long holiday of the Chinese Spring Festival. The Ministry of Communications estimated the figure will be 7.5 million persons more than that on Friday. (Click for full report)

20 mln Travel by Air in Spring Festival
Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2007 - China's airlines carried 20 million passengers during this year's 40-day Spring Festival, up 13 percent year on year, said sources with the Civil Aviation Administration of China on Wednesday.The number of people traveling by air rose 21 percent to 3.71 million during the week-long Spring Festival holiday that ran from Feb. 18 to Feb. 24.On Feb. 22, the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, 519,000 people traveled by air. The figure soared to 620,000 on Feb. 24, the last day of the statutory holiday.The 40-day Spring Festival travel peak began on Feb. 3, 15 days before the Lunar New Year's Day, and ended on March 14.

Foreign Tourists in Beijing Spend $4 bln in 2006
Xinhua News, Jan. 26, 2007 - Foreign tourists in Beijing spent a record US$1,033 each last year, involving a total of US$4 billion, local authorities said on Thursday. The Chinese capital received 3.9 million foreign tourists last year, 7.5 percent more than last year, who spent a total of four billion dollars, according to Fang Zehua, a spokesman of the municipal tourism administration. "The boom can be attributed to our promotion of Beijing in major source countries," he said. Tourists from Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea accounted for about 40 percent of the total number. Overseas arrivals from Russia, Sweden and Australia also saw a rapid increase, Fang said.Some 132 million Chinese visitors from other parts of the country came to the capital and spent 148.3 billion yuan (US$19.1 billion), 14 percent higher than in 2005, he added.

China Received 124 Mln Inbound Travelers in 2006
Xinhua News, Jan. 14, 2007 - China received 124 million inbound travelers in 2006, ranking fourth in the world, according to statistics released by China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). The figures include arrivals from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. According to the CNTA, China reaped US$33.5 billion in tourism income last year, ranking sixth in the world. Inbound tourism has become China's biggest service trade area. The number of travelers from Japan, the Republic of Korea and Southeast Asian nations grew steadily last year, and the growth of new markets such as Europe, North America and India has accelerated. The development of inbound tourism boosted construction of infrastructure, hotels, restaurants and shops. Officials from CNTA said inbound tourism will continue to increase in the next few years. The Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 will attract more travelers from all over the world.

Overseas Tourist Arrivals Rises 2.86% in First 9 Months
Xinhua News,  Nov. 14, 2006 - China received 92.2 million overseas tourists in the first nine months of the year, up 2.86 percent on the same period in 2005, the China National Tourism Administration said on Monday. The country's revenue from overseas tourists totaled US$23.03 billion between January and September, representing a growth of 5.63 percent. Of the total 16.1 million were foreign nationals and the rest from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Arrivals of overseas tourists totaled 10.4 million in September, a rise of 5.56 percent. As in September, South Korea was the largest source of foreign tourists for China, with 334,169 arrivals. It was followed by Japan, Russia and the US. China is now ranked fourth in the world in terms of overseas tourist arrivals. The World Tourism Organization has predicted that China will become the No. 1 tourist destination and the fourth largest source of tourists by 2020.

WTTC: China's tourism growth exceeds GDP growth
TravelVedio.TV, July 13, 2006 - A recently released World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on China revealed that between 1975 to 2000 tourism had an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent exceeding the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 3.5 percent. (Click for full report).

China tourism predicted to be 2nd largest
China Daily MayThe World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) predicted in Beijing on Monday that over the next decade China will become the second largest travel and tourism industry in the world, after the United States.

Week-long Labour Day holiday in China boosts tourism earnings
Newkerala.com India, May 9, 2006 - Beijing: China's week-long "Golden Week" holiday to mark the International Labour Day has helped tourism sites and companies rake in over USD 2.5 billion, official figures showed. (Click for full report)

3 Mln People to Travel by Air During National Day Holiday
Xinhua News, Sep. 28, 2006 - The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) forecast that 3.06 million people will travel by air during the upcoming National Day holiday, an increase of 13.5 percent from a year ago.CAAC predicts the peak times for air travel will be on September 29 and 30. Airlines have been urged to take preventative measures to deal with passengers stranded due to postponement of flights during the "Golden Week" holiday from October 1 to 7. China now has three "Golden Week" holidays -- Spring Festival, International Labor Day, and National Day.The holiday scheme, initiated by the Chinese government in 1999, is aimed at boosting domestic demand, stimulating consumption and restructuring the economy.

Millions Travel on 1st Day of Golden Week Holidays
Xinhua News, May 2, 2006 - At least 116 main tourist attractions across China received 28.9 million visitors the first day of the golden week holidays starting from May 1, up 17 percent over the same period of last year. The tourism income generated from the day increased by 25 percent compared with last year, according to Beijing News Daily. (Click for full report)

Nearly 10,000 ROK People Tour China Each Day
Xinhua News,  Nov. 9, 2005 - Nearly 10,000 people from the Republic of Korea (ROK) tour China each day, which will make the total number of ROK tourists hit 3.5 million this year, ROK ambassador to China Kim Ha Joong said Tuesday. (Click for full report)

China 2nd largest destination for Japanese tourists
Chinaview.cn June 29, 2005 -- China has annually received an average of 2 million Japanese tourists since 2000, maintaining a two-digit growth rate, according to the National Tourism Administration. (full coverage)

Tourism Boom in China Raises Concern
OhmyNews, Korea  - China has just beaten tourism giant Italy and is ranked fourth in the number of visitors. According to statistics from the World Tourism Organization (WTO)'s 2004 report (PDF), 41.8 million people visited China last year, while Italy had 37.1 million visitors. (full report)

China Makes Great Breakthrough in Tourism
Xinhua News Jan. 21, 2005 - The inbound tourists to the Chinese mainland reached 109.04 million in 2004, breaking the 100 million mark for the first time. This earned the foreign exchange revenue up to US$25.74 billion, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China National Tourism Administration on Thursday. The inbound tourists mainly came from the 16 countries of Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, the United States, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Thailand, Australia, Canada, Germany, Indonesia, India and France. The number of visitor arrivals from these countries saw remarkable growth in 2004 over the previous year. The outbound tourists from the Chinese mainland amounted to 28.85 million in 2004. Some 5.87 million Chinese mainland people traveled abroad for business purpose, up 8.55 percent compared with last year. More than 12.97 million mainlanders went abroad for private reasons, representing an increase of 55.15 percent over a year earlier. Figures show that domestic tourism revenue totaled 471.1 billion yuan (US$58 billion) in the past year.

Foreign Tourists to China Jump by 20%
Xinhua News Agency Jan. 2, 2005 - China on Saturday reported sharp increases in the number of foreign tourists and tourism dollars in the first 11 months in 2004, jumping by around 20 percent and 50 percent year-on-year, respectively. "The numbers of inbound tourists and foreign tourists in the

 January-November period both exceeded the total numbers for the whole year in 2002," an official with the National Tourism Administration said. China netted US$23.5 billion in tourist revenue in the first 11 months, representing an increase of 49.61 percent compared with the corresponding time in 2003, he said. The country received inbound tourists of 99.14 million in the 11 months, 19.6 percent more than the same time in the previous year.