2009 figures confirm importance of Chinese outbound travellers for global tourism development

2010 promises to develop into a positive year for those destinations, organisations and companies which engage with the Chinese outbound tourism market.
On the political side, a State Council executive meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on November 25th 2009 listed tourism on the top of its agenda of the national economic and social development. The “Statement on Accelerating the Tourism Industry Development” includes the definition of Tourism as a strategic pillar industry in the national economy and the plan for further expansion of the tourism market, resulting in China becoming the world’s flagship Tourism destination by 2020.
Emphasis has also been placed on outbound tourism which will is planned to have an annual increase of 9% totalling 83 million outbound trips by 2020.

UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai applauded the importance of the announcement “The efforts of the Chinese Government to promote outbound tourism will be a great impetus for world tourism development especially when world tourism is overcast by the current economic downturn.”
 
On the business side, the numbers for 2009 just released by Xinhua News Agency verify the statement of COTRI in early 2009 that China’s outbound tourism is rather a remedy than a part of the problem of the current global economic and tourism crisis. With an increase of 3.6 percent to a total number of 47.5 million border crossings by Mainland Chinese citizens, the Chinese tourism source market remains an island of positive development amongst an ocean of negative growth figures. According to estimates of the UNWTO, the number of international tourism trips decreased by 4% in 2009, with some parts of Europe seeing numbers dropping by as much as 8%. 
 
 info resource:

       China Outbound Tourism Development 1995-2009
(number of borders crossings by Mainland Chinese citizens, in millions)
Source: CNTA, COTRI