China Inbound Tourism in 2012

Compared with the outbound tourism, China’s inbound tourism did not do so well in 2012. The total tourist arrivals decreased and the trade deficit increased. Even so, the year’s tourist arrivals numbered 132.4053 million producing revenue of 50.028 billion USD.

 

	2012 (million)	2011 (million)	Growth (%)
Total Tourist Arrivals	132.4053	135.4235	-2.23
Foreign Tourists	27.1916	27.1120	0.29
From Hong Kong	78.7130	79.3577	-0.81
From Macau	21.1606	23.6908	-10.68
From Taiwan Province	5.3402	5.2630	1.47

Total that stayed overnight	57.7249	57.5807	0.25
Foreign Tourists	21.9487	21.9410	0.04
From Hong Kong	26.7100	26.9159	-0.76
From Macau	4.3157	4.2794	0.85
From Taiwan Province	4.7504	4.4444	6.88

International Tourism Receipts

50.028 billion USD

48.464 billion USD

3.23

   Statistics of Foreign Market
In 2012, China’s inbound tourism continued to grow as the number of tourists from abroad reached 27.1916 million, an increase of 0.29% over 2011. This produced total revenue of 30.188 billion USD, up 5.365%.

The Asian market was the largest accounting for 61.23% of the total, reaching 16.6488 million. Following that was the European market, with arrivals totaling 5.9216 million, 21.78% of the total. The third was the American market, with 3.1795 million arrivals and taking up 11.69%. The arrivals from Oceania and Africa were respectively 0.9149 million and 0.5249 million, accounting for 3.36% and 1.93% of the total number.

Reviewing the reasons for travel, those who came to China for sightseeing/leisure formed the majority, with 11.6290 million arrivals and accounting for 42.77%; followed by 6.2802 million who came for meetings/ business, making up 23.10%.

Top 17 tourism source countries
Order	Country	Number of Tourist Arrivals (Unit in 10,000 persons )	Growth(%)
01	South Korea	406.99	-2.76
02	Japan	351.82	-3.83
03	Russia	242.62	-4.34
04	United States	211.81	0.09
05	Malaysia	123.55	-0.77
06	Vietnam	113.72	12.99
07	Singapore	102.77	-3.32
08	Mongolia	101.05	1.64
09	Philippines	96.20	7.57
10	Australia	77.43	6.63
11	Canada	70.83	-5.31
12	Germany	65.96	3.55
13	Thailand	64.76	6.50
14	Indonesia	62.20	2.18
15	United Kingdom	61.84	3.80
16	India	61.02	0.61
17	France	52.48	6.43

 Statistics of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Market
Although tourists from Hong Kong and Macau decreased in 2012, they were still the largest source of China’s inbound tourism. The tourist arrival from Taiwan grew rapidly.

The arrivals from Hong Kong were 78.7130 million, a decrease of 0.81% compared with that of 2011. But Hong Kong continued to be the largest inbound tourism source, accounting for 59.45% of all inbound tourists. Among them, 26.7100 million people stayed overnight, down 0.76% and accounting for 33.93% of the visitors from Hong Kong. The revenue from Hong Kong tourists was US$10.908 billion, a 1.40% reduction.

The 21.1606 million tourists from Macau accounted for 15.98% of all inbound tourists, a decrease of 10.68%. This was the sharpest drop of all the inbound tourism market falls in 2012. Among them, 43157 stayed overnight, up by 0.85%. The revenue from Macau tourists was USD 2.787 billion, down by 0.86 %.

Tourists from Taiwan increased by 1.47% and numbered 5.3402 million, up 3.84%. In all, 47,504 stayed overnight, an increase of 6.88%. The revenue derived from Taiwan tourists increased by 2.68 % on the previous year to USD 6.145 billion.

Data Source: Ministry of Culture and Tourism of People's Republic of China

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