Chinese outbound tourism not an 'evolution', but 'a revolution': UNWTO official

It is clear that the increase in outbound tourism has coincided with China's spectacular economic growth and the rise of a middle class with disposable income, but in the year of Tourism for Sustainable Development the UNWTO are at pain to highlight the benefit this brings to other countries.

"With a high percentage of Chinese tourists visiting other Asian counties such as Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, this has contributed socially to the welfare of these countries," explained Xu Jing, who said the effects ran deeper than just providing employment.

"We emphasize not only the economic growth, but also social goals, like poverty reduction and the empowerment of women"

"The Chinese market is and will continue to contribute to the overall social prosperity of the world;" he commented, adding that the fact Chinese people use the internet to make reservations means they "go to the less known corners of the world."

"On one hand, they are contributing to shopping and gastronomy tourism, but more importantly they are also a very strong force to those less developed areas when it comes to community development and that contribution," he told Xinhua.

Finally Xu Jing sees a secondary benefit to increased outbound Chinese tourism; as well as helping to lift the burden on the internal Chinese market, especially on key holiday periods such as the Spring Festival, greater numbers of international travelers "are certainly contributing to peace and more importantly to the mutual understanding between the Chinese people on one hand and people of the rest of the world on the other."

"It is a cultural exchange and a process of mutual understanding and for the Chinese it is a question of internationalization in both an economic and a social sense," said Xu Jing.

And with just 4 percent of the Chinese population owning a passport, compared to 37 percent of Americans, the "revolution" looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.