Australia attracts record number of Chinese tourists

BEIJING — A record 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited Australia in 2016, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which helped drive up Australia's visitor expenditure figures.

The International Visitor Survey (IVS), published on March 15 by Tourism Research Australia, showed foreign tourists spent a record A$39.1 billion ($29.6 billion) throughout the year ending December 2016, a 7-percent rise on the previous year, with Chinese visitors accounting for almost a quarter of that figure.

In a statement accompanying the IVS, Australian Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said tourism was beginning to become one of Australian economy's most important assets, considering the rise of the middle class in Asian nations such as China.

"Spending by international visitors to Australia has now grown by more than 35 percent in the last three years -- supporting Australian jobs and the broader Australian economy," said Ciobo.

The rapid increase in the number of Chinese visitors to Australia has had a huge positive impact on local retailers.

According to the Deloitte Access Economics Retail Forecasts report, tourist retail spending from Chinese visitors accounts for $1.05 billion.

Deloitte Access Economics partner David Rumbens, lead author of the report, told Xinhua that the number is set to increase by four times in the next decade.

"Chinese tourism is a significant contributor to the sector," Rumbens said.

With the China-Australia Year of Tourism well underway in 2017, Australia is making great efforts to get itself prepared, ranging from adding some 1,000 new hotel rooms to market to huge investments in aviation projects, including new aircraft orders.

Australia recently expanded its 10-year visitor visa to Chinese citizens, while respective authorities signed an "open skies agreement," removing aircraft capacity restrictions on the seemingly lucrative China-Australia routes in anticipation of increased demands.