Chinese are on the break of becoming the world biggest spenders as they are on verge of surpassing the Americans and the Germans with their tourist expenditures. It is caused by the expanding middle class that fuels the travel boom that leads to growing demand of scenery and cultural itineraries.
There are also predictions of increases in the number of overseas trips made by the Chinese from 70 million last year to 100 million at end of the decade.
Though the Chinese tourists that leave the country spend less compared to western counterparts, their numbers are high hence record high totals. In 2010 the expenditures increased by 20% in only 5 months. This was from $54billion to $72 billion compared to $79 billion of U.S. travelers and $84 billion for Germans.
Most Chinese still holiday at home; if they are lucky they venture on trips to Macau and Hong Kong which are still part of the republic of China. The ever growing middle class that has helped fill beds from South Africa to Italy is traveling though. Also London hotels are learning to offer congee, croissants and quilts alongside blankets due to increased amount of Chinese tourists. China's union pay card banks have also started to be accepted by the Selfridges and the Harrods.
Research by the Jiang Yiyi at Chinese tourist academy showed that there is increasing interests in beach and holiday activities. This is quite different from the past where Chinese tourists cared about the number of nations they had to visit; they mainly took travel packs that allowed them to visit 11 European countries in only 13 days. However, today they concentrate on comfort.
According to the figures, Asian, Australia and Europe still top the list with the UK more popular than Germany and France although the figures are still misleading since some visas are only registered on the point of arrivals.
Most of the travelers are travelling to experience the different lifestyle. This is confirmed by the description of travel feature in London. It was about how to live as Londoner, party and experience local culture.
Even if the Chinese economic developments do not allow people to explore, it encourages them to travel. As said by a Beijing's based IT worker that the important thing is staying happy.