According to John Tisch, Chairman of Loews Hotels, and quite possibly the biggest advocate for the travel industry, the global tourism market will be booming for decades to come, and China will be one of the largest suppliers of new tourists.

“Between 2000 and 2012, international trips by Chinese travelers grew more than eight-fold. By 2016, China will add another 34 million international passengers to the market,” said Tisch during a speech last month at the 35th Annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. “Last year alone Chinese travelers spent a whopping $102 billion, making China the largest spender in the international tourism market.”

“In 2012 China alone saw 70 million people leaving the country for outbound travel. That’s 10 million more than just two year’s prior,” explained John Foley, VP of sales with Safemark, a company that designs, installs and maintains in-room safes. “Better yet, the United States is the fastest growing destination for Chinese citizens visiting other countries. Hoteliers need to get prepared and educate their staff in regards to how to take care of Chinese customers.”

Tisch also said according to the World Tourism Organization, China has become the fastest-growing tourism source market globally. And the entire Asia Pacific region will be a hotbed of tourism generating consumers for decades to come. “Looking out to 2030—not really all that far for our planning purposes – the consulting firm Ernst & Young predicts the global middle class will expand by another 3 billion people. Two-thirds of those will come from the Asia-Pacific region,” said Tisch.
 

To help leverage this potential profit source the U.S. government has started to do its part. They’re helping Chinese tourists obtain visas more quickly than ever before. In a process that used to takes months is now down to days as more personnel have been dedicated to the approval process.