But flight comparison site Skyscanner highlights the rapid growth of the Chinese outbound market, dubbing it a ‘new force’ in international tourism.
The website cites the UN World Tourism Organisation prediction that international tourism will rebound in 2010 with projected growth of 3%-4%.
Barry Smith, Skyscanner co-founder and business director, said: ‘It will be very interesting to see how tourist spending changes since the downturn. So far, the latest figures show that only the Japanese spent less on international tourism than the previous year.
‘China is fast rising, spending 21% more on their global travels, and are likely set to grow even more.’
Travel giants such as TUI Travel and Thomas Cook are expanding in markets such as China and Russia to take advantage of rapid economic growth and pent-up tourism demand.
Club Med last week unveiled its first village in China and Expedia's TripAdvisor also operates in China under the daodao.com and kuxun.cn brands.
Skyscanner urges travel and tourism firms to shift their marketing spend towards countries such as China, adding: 'The country’s huge economic boom over the last decade has created a new middle class and with travel restrictions now a distant memory, more and more Chinese are taking advantage of their new found wealth and travelling the world – normally in tour groups.'
The Brits are in third place, behind the Americans, spending $68.5bn to escape the UK weather, while France – the world’s most popular country in terms of tourist arrivals – is fourth with $43.1bn.
Top ten amount spent on international tourism (2008 UNWTO figures):
1. Germany – $91bn (+2%)
2. USA – $79.7bn (+4.4%)
3. UK – $68.5bn (+4.4%)
4. France – $43.1bn (+9.6%)
5. China – $36.2bn (+21.4%)
6. Italy – $30.8bn (+4.9%)
7. Japan – $27.9bn (-7.9%)
8. Canada – $26.9bn (+8.4%)
9. Russia – $24.9bn (+11.8%)
10. Netherlands – $21.7bn (+9.2%)
Related news from e-tid.com:
Club Med unveils first Chinese village (19/02/2010)
Shanghai Disneyland moves a step closer (04/11/2009)
TripAdvisor expands Chinese operations (02/11/2009)
Thomas Cook looks East to expand (30/09/2009)
Long outlines Russian ‘opportunity’; TC prepares to follow (20/05/2009)
Recent Skyscanner news:
Skyscanner in first offline campaign (11/11/2009)
Skyscanner continues international push (05/10/2009)
Holidays now searchable through Skyscanner (19/08/2009)