Travel Weekly on April 13 cited the UNWTO’s annual report as saying that money spent by Chinese travelers abroad hit a record high and exceeded spending by travelers from the US, UK, Germany and France.

In the year, Chinese travelers spent $261 billion, or $11 billion more overseas than the year before. If considering the increase in China yuan, the growth rate was 12 percent compared with 2015.

The number of Chinese outbound travelers, including those traveling from the mainland to Hong Kong and Macau, increased by 6 percent to 135 million.

Of the other countries, nine countries witnessed two-digit growth rates in their citizens’ spending when traveling abroad. These included Vietnam (+28 percent), Argentina (+26 percent), Egypt (+19 percent), and Spain (+17 percent).

As such, Vietnam is leading the world in terms of travelers’ spending growth rate.

A report from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) showed that 2.7 million Chinese travelers went to Vietnam in 2016, accounting for 27 percent of foreign travelers.

In the first three months of 2017, the figure was 949,199, a sharp increase of 63.5 percent compared with the same period last year, which accounted for nearly one-third of total foreign travelers to Vietnam.

Chinese travelers flocked to Vietnam’s Quang Ninh province after the traditional Lunar New Year in February. It is estimated that 5,000 Chinese travelers enter Vietnam daily, while the figure could be 10,000-15,000 on weekends.

Arguments have been raised about whether to encourage Chinese tourist visits. Some say Chinese mostly go to Vietnam under ‘zero-dong’ tours, and therefore, don’t bring high economic benefits.

‘Zero-dong’ tours tours with low tour fees, offered to attract more Chinese travelers to Vietnam. Travel firms cannot collect tour fees, but can earn money from products and services sold to Chinese travelers, often at high prices.

As such, Chinese spending goes to travel firms and service providers, while the State fails to collect tax.

Thailand, a well-known destination for tourists, reportedly lost 305 billion baht, or $9 billion a year because of ‘zero-dollar’ tours.

Nguyen Van My, director of Lua Viet Travel, said that Chinese mostly travel to Vietnam by land, and many of them are not high income earners.

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