The world’s biggest spenders have been revealed and the news did not throw up any major surprises. German and American travelers came near the top of the list and the Chinese have been climbing the ranks very rapidly.
Almost everybody has a theory about who spends more when traveling abroad. There is also the question of national stereotypes, which label the Dutch as mean and the Americans as massive tippers. The results of the latest survey by Skyscanner, however, relay plain facts and do not play on unproven prejudices.
German tourists came out on the top with $90 billion spend which is a disproportionate amount compared to their population of 80 million. The USA with its 308 million people is second. In 2009 American holidaymakers spent $79.7 billion while on holiday. Let’s not forget that the Americans were severely hit by the global crisis and the weakness of the dollar discouraged a lot of ventures abroad, especially to Europe. Taking the American obsession with tipping into account, the above figure is most probably a lot bigger.
The bronze medal for spending went to the British, who splashed out $68.5 billion last year on their holiday – mostly in Spain. Malaga was found to be by far the most popular destination for British tourists.
Further down the list came the Chinese, who are relatively new to the world of massive spending. In comparison to the Germans and the Americans, spend of $36.2 billion does not seem that much, yet one must remember that this entails an increase of 21.4% on the previous year. Better visa conditions and increased wealth have made larger Chinese spending possible and the rest of the world is reaping the benefits.
Related:
CHINESE TOURISTS NOW THE BIGGEST SPENDERS IN FRANCE
TOP 10 SHOPPING CAPITALS OF THE WORLD
This kind of fake information, based on assunmptions which are purely opinions are misleading and do not contribute to the industry growth.
Marco, I hope you don't expect professional, academic like research from skyscanner. Their analyses are rather a sales and marketing tool. But anyway, interesting information.
Dear Eve and Marco,
Thanks for your comments. The data for this article was supplied by the World Tourist Organisation.
Marco - what you say is incorrect. The WTO's data is by no means "fake information" or "based on assumptions".
On the contrary, the WTO is a respected organisation that provides industry trend data and stats on international tourism.
Feel free to read the full report for yourself if you're not convinced.
regards
Sam