Citizens of the PRC spent a total of $102 billion (about €75.5 billion) abroad – more than tourists from any other country. The recent leaders Germany ($83.8 billion) and the USA ($83.7 billion) took second and third places, respectively, but with a significant gap. China's rapid rise to first place cannot be explained by demographic factors alone – otherwise Japan would hardly be in the top ten, and India and Pakistan, with populations roughly comparable to China, are nowhere near the UNWTO top 10.
Note that in 2005 China was only in seventh place. Its current leap to the top step of the UNWTO podium testifies to the simplification of the mechanism for traveling abroad, the rapid economic growth of the country, and above all the development of its middle class – that is, people who can afford foreign trips. And although their share of China's total population is not yet very large compared to developed countries, in absolute numbers it is enough to leave the recognized leaders behind in terms of travel expenditures. The growth rate of Chinese outbound tourism is shown by a simple comparison of two figures: 10 million people in 2000 and 83 million last year. And the trend of middle class development in the country is such that in the near future China is unlikely to cede leadership in the UNWTO ranking to anyone.
Nevertheless, Chinese abroad are not yet the most generous guests, judging by spending per tourist per year. In the individual ranking, Germans and Americans remain undisputed leaders; each individual tourist 'invests' several times more money in foreign countries than the Chinese. However, it is possible that this too is only a matter of time.
For the president of the German Travel Association (DRV), Jürgen Büchy, China's leadership was not a surprise. He sees one possible explanation for China's rapid progress in geography: if Germans tend to prefer vacations in the relatively close Mediterranean region, Chinese more often fly around the world, which automatically increases travel costs. There is another important factor: while for Germans a tourist trip is usually just a beach holiday, residents of developing economies combine their vacation with shopping, which inevitably raises their spending.
UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai attributes the increased desire to travel among residents of developing economies to the growing share of the middle class in the overall population structure. In his opinion, this trend will continue in the near future and significantly affect the tourist map of the world.