According to figures published by the UNWTO, international tourism spending is up 4% in 2016. The Chinese market, the world's largest, recorded a 12% growth in spending.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) published an expenditure barometer of issuing countries around the world in 2016. International tourism spending has maintained an overall 4% increase.
The world's largest source market of China recorded an increase of 11 billion USD in expenditures reaching 261 billion USD, an increase of 12% (in local currency). The number of Chinese traveling abroad increased by 6%, reaching 135 million in 2016.
In addition, three other source markets among the top 10 in the world have demonstrated strong growth as well. Spending by tourists from the Republic of Korea (27 billion USD) and from Australia (27 billion USD) increased by 8% in 2016, while spending of tourists coming from Hong Kong (China) increased by 5% (24 billion USD), placing Hong Kong among the top ten source markets.
Spending by tourists coming from the United States—the world's second-largest market—rose by 8% in 2016, reaching 122 billion USD, an increase of 9 billion USD compared to the year 2015.
However, the performance of Canada—the second largest source market in the Americas, which is among the top ten in the world—has been more mixed, with 29 billion USD spent on international tourism, while the number of foreign visitors who stayed overnight fell by 3%, to 31 million.
Last year, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy—the four European markets ranked among the world's top ten—all saw an increase in their issuing demand.
In 2016, spending by tourists from Germany—the world's third largest market—rose by 5%, up to 81 billion USD.
The number of international arrivals by tourists from the United Kingdom increased by 7% (+5 million) in 2016, to 70 million, while expenditure was close to 64 billion USD.
In 2016, spending by tourists from France—the world's fifth largest issuing market—increased by 7%, or up to 41 billion USD.
Spending by tourists from Italy rose by 1% to 25 billion USD, while the number of overnight visitors increased by 3%, or up to 29 million.