'Despite the many challenges of recent years, results of spending on travel abroad are consistent with the 4% growth to 1.2 billion international tourist arrivals reported earlier this year for 2016,' UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai said.
2016 was another strong year for outbound tourism from China, the world’s leading outbound market. International tourism expenditure grew by US$11bn to $ 261bn, a 12% increase. The number of outbound travellers rose 6% to 135m in 2016. This growth consolidates China’s position as No. 1 source market in the world since 2012, following a trend of double-digit growth in tourism expenditure every year since 2004.
This benefited many destinations in Asia and the Pacific, most notably Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, but also long-haul destinations such as the US and several in Europe.
Aside from China, three other Asian outbound markets among the first 10 showed very positive results. The Republic of Korea ($27bn) and Australia ($27bn) both spent 8% more in 2016 and Hong Kong (China) entered the top 10 following 5% growth in expenditure ($24bn).
Tourism spending from the the world’s second largest tourism source market, the US, increased 8% in 2016 to $122bn, up $9bn from 2015. For a third year in a row, strong outbound demand was fueled by a robust US dollar and economy. The number of US residents traveling to international destinations increased 8% through November 2016 (74m in 2015).
By contrast, Canada, the second source market from the Americas in the top 10, reported flat results, with $29bn spent on international tourism, while the number of outbound overnight trips declined by 3% to 31m.
Germany, the UK, France and Italy led tourism spending in Europe. Germany, the world’s third largest tourism market, reported 5% growth in international travel spending, rebounding from weaker figures in 2015 and reaching $81bn.
Demand from the UK, the world’s fourth largest tourism market, remained sound despite the significant depreciation of the British pound in 2016. UK residents' visits abroad were up by 5m (+7%) in 2016 to 70m, with expenditure close to $64bn.
France, the world’s fifth largest tourism market, reported 7% growth in travel expenditure in 2016 to reach $41bn. Italy recorded 1% growth in spending to $25bn and a 3% increase in overnight trips to 29m.
Among the largest 50 source markets, another nine recorded double-digit growth in spending in 2016: Vietnam (+28%), Argentina (+26%), Egypt (+19%), Spain (+17%), India (+16%), Israel and Ukraine (both +12%), Qatar and Thailand (both +11%).
By contrast, outbound tourism from some commodity exporters continued to be depressed as a consequence of their weaker economy and currencies. Expenditure from the Russian Federation declined further in 2016 to $24bn. International tourism spending from Brazil also decreased.
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