Chinese tourists have strong overseas purchasing power

Tourists visit Nanjing Avenue in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 1, 2013. China's 125 major scenic spots received 31.25 million visitors during the seven-day National Day holidays from Oct. 1, up 6.8 percent from the corresponding period last year. [Photo: Xinhua/Yang Shichao]

The China Tourism Academy has predicted that China's inbound and outbound tourism business is expected to have more than 100 billion US dollars deficit in 2014.

Outbound tourists may make 116 million trips for the whole year, much lower than the that of inbound tourists. However, the purchasing power of Chinese people in outbound tourism is astonishing.

In 2013, the per capita expense of outbound Chinese tourists was 1,368 US dollars, three times that of the inbound tourism expenditure. The total expense of outbound Chinese tourists is expected to reach 155 billion US dollars this year.

China's inbound and outbound tourism reversed from surplus to deficit in 2008, after a financial crisis swept the western world.

The upcoming National Day Holiday, also known as the "golden week", will embrace around 480 million trips by travellers. The outbound tourism will keep surging, domestic tourism will remain stable while the inbound tourism will stay sluggish, said Dai Bin, head of the China Tourism Academy.