Golden Week is a prime time of travel for the Chinese and more are choosing to visit the UK than ever before.
Latest statistics show that there were a record number of visits from China to the UK in the first quarter of 2018. From January to March this year there were 68,000 visits from China, up 24 per cent on the same period last year, with visitors spending a record £96 million, up 4%.
VisitBritain Director Patricia Yates said that China, the world’s most valuable outbound market, was a huge tourism opportunity for Britain.
China moved into the UK’s top 10 most valuable inbound visitor markets last year with visits reaching a record-breaking 337,000, up 29% on 2016, and spending up 35% to a record £694 million.
Visitors from China spent, on average, £2,059 per visit in Britain in 2017, more than three times the all market average. They also stayed longer, holidaymakers from China stayed an average of 11 nights compared to the all market average of six, and travelled more widely across the UK than other visitors.
Shopping is the most popular activity in the UK for visitors from China followed by dining in restaurants, visiting parks or gardens, and museums or galleries. More than a third of Chinese visitors would shop in high-end department stores, outlets and luxury stores on a visit to the UK. Chinese visitors are almost three times as likely to buy bags and purses in the UK than the average visitor and twice as likely to buy personal accessories.
For every 22 visitors from China, one job is created in the UK’s tourism industry.
VisitBritain’s ambition is to grow spend from Chinese visitors to £1 billion annually by 2020.
Tourism is worth £127 billion to the UK economy, creating jobs and boosting economic growth across its nations and regions.