Revenue from tourism in China 2013-2023

In 2023, the revenue from tourism in China amounted to roughly 4.9 trillion yuan. 2020, 2021, and 2022 revenues were estimated to be nearly completely generated by domestic tourism, as strict travel restrictions led to a halt in inbound tourism since February 2020.

China in the global tourism industry

The global tourism industry had contributed around ten billion U.S. dollars annually to the GDP worldwide over the recent years. The term tourism in this context includes travel for recreation, leisure, business or other purposes. As an interlinked industry, tourism has an impact on several other industries such as retail, accommodation, and transportation. In the past few years, China has been the world’s largest travel and tourism economy, with a global market share surpassing the United States.

Tourism in China

With rising standards of living, the tourism industry in China experienced a substantial growth spur over the last decade. The Chinese tourism industry reported a 11.7 percent increase in revenue to around 5.7 trillion yuan in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic. Being the fourth largest country in the world by land area, China provides a wide range of natural, historical and cultural sites. China’s tourism industry consists of domestic and international tourism. Around six billion domestic trips had been made pre-pandemic, in 2019. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou were among the most popular domestic destinations among Chinese tourists. The number of foreign tourists visiting China ranged at only around 32 million in 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic had a strong effect on tourism in China. While only few foreign passengers were allowed to enter the country, the number of domestic travelers has also dropped more than half in 2020 and started slowly increasing again in 2021. In early 2023, after almost three years of closed borders, China finally reopened the country for international travel.