Chinese travelers the world's biggest spenders

Boosted by a rising Chinese currency, Chinese travelers spent a record US$102 billion on international tourism in 2012, a 40 percent rise from US$73 billion in 2011.

The results fall right in line with China's outbound tourism growth over the last 10 years.

The UNWTO says the volume of international trips by Chinese travelers grew from 10 million in 2000 to 83 million in 2012, making it the world's fastest-growing market.

So what's behind the increase?

The UNWTO credits rapid urbanization, rising disposable incomes and the relaxation of government restrictions on foreign travel, Kazinform quotes CNN.

"In 2005 China ranked seventh in international tourism expenditure, and has since successively overtaken Italy, Japan, France and the United Kingdom," says the report.

"With the 2012 surge, China leaped to first place, surpassing both top spender Germany and second largest spender United States (both close to US$84 billion in 2012)."

Though the report did not break down spending per trip amongst international travelers, calculating total spend by number of trips suggests Chinese travelers averaged a spend of $1,230 per trip.

By 2015, 100 million Chinese will travel abroad, a benchmark originally forecast for 2020, according to the UNWTO.

And now that China's State Council has crafted a landmark plan to kick start Chinese outbound tourism even further, expect more phenomenal growth figures.

It is dubbed the "Outline for National Tourism and Leisure (2013-2020)" and is a roadmap for restructuring the current paid leave system across China with an aim to encourage governmental agencies, social organizations, enterprises and public institutions to promote the use of leave days. Importantly, it also gives Chinese workers more freedom and flexibility of where and when to travel.

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