China to Produce the 3rd Largest Visitors to the U.S.

China international travelers to the United States will grow 172% from 2013 to 2019, the largest total growth percentage according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Mexico (30%), Canada (17%), China (17%), Brazil (5%), and the United Kingdom (U.K.) (3%) are expected to account for 72% of the projected growth from 2013 through 2019.

Although China and Brazil continue to get the bulk of media attention because of their consistent and very high growth rates, the traditional top origin countries will dictate actual volume growth and the ultimate accuracy of the forecast. For example, despite a small 3.0% growth rate, Canada produced a greater number of additional travelers in 2013 compared to the previous year than China and Brazil combined.

If the fall 2014 Travel Forecast is realized through 2019, the current top ten countries will retain that status, but China will move from #7 in 2013 to #3 in 2019, while U.K. Japan, Brazil, and German will all slip down one place in the ranking.

High growth rates and large growth volumes are expected for China (24%) and it is expected to increase a total of 3.1 million visitors, or 172% through 2019, and produce the third largest number of additional visitors to the United States behind Mexico and Canada.

Both inbound travel and outbound travel are booming in China; it is estimated that during China National Day’s golden week starting on Oct 1, tourism market is expected to see 480 million person-trips in 2014 with an increase of 13% YoY.

China just replaced France as Canada’s second largest source of overseas visitors in August 2014 with a 4.6% increase to a record 43,000 trips.

Short-term trips from China to Australia have grown from 234,000 in 2003-2004 period to 769,000 in 2013-2014, making a record number of visits to Australia.

China outbound tourists on average spent RMB 20,000 (US$3,252) during travel per person and shopping is an important part of their spend in oversea trips (57.8%). Find out more on China outbound travelers here.