Reading the “White Paper on Tourism in Japan, 2013” (2): China Tops for the First Time for the International Travel Expenditure

According to the “White Paper on Tourism in Japan, 2013” (“State of Tourism in FY 2012” and the “Tourism Policy in FY 2013”), the number of international travelers worldwide in 2012 was 1,035.00 million, an increase of approximately 4% on a year-to-year basis, exceeding 1,000.00 million first time ever (analyzed by UNWTO.) Looking at it by regions, Europe has the biggest market share in hosting international travelers with 51.6%, followed by Asia-Pacific (22.6%), America (15.7%), Africa (5.1%) and Middle East (5.0%.)

Also, looking at the composition ratios by country/area, France ranks 1^st with 79.50 million, the United States 2^nd with 62.33 million, China 3^rd with 57.58 million, however Japan declined to 39^th with 6.22 million due to the effect of the Earthquake. This ranks in 10^th among Asia, behind countries/areas including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macao and Korea.

Looking at the balance of international travel by countries/areas, the United States earned most revenue (US$116.279 billion), followed by Spain (US$59.892 billion), France (US$53.845 billion) ranking in the 3^rd and Japan (US$10.966 billion) ranking in the 28^th. This is 10^th among Asia meanwhile China (US$48.464 billion, 4^th worldwide) ranks 1^st. On the other hand, China (US$102 billion) came in 1^st for the first time for the international travel expenditure, surpassing Germany (US$83.8billion) and the United States (US$83.7 billion.) Japan　(US$27.9 billion) was the 8^th in this category.