A new study from Hotels.com revealed the number of Chinese tourists visiting the United States increased over the last year and looks to continue growing each year moving forward.

 

Hotels.com’s Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) shows the U.S. was the second most popular destination for Chinese travelers in 2016, behind only France. The increase in visitors is due in part to the two countries extending visas for short-term business travelers, tourists and students.

 

In total, the 2016 CITM revealed 122 million outbound Chinese tourists traveled the world, an increase of four percent from 2015 and 74 percent from 2011.

 

Cities in the Asia-Pacific region remain the most popular, with 82 percent of Chinese travelers visiting over the last year, but the tourism numbers have climbed to Europe and America during the same time period, with 25 percent and 11 percent increases, respectively.

 

As for Chinese millennial travelers, 42 percent have visited Europe and 29 percent have visited the U.S. over the last 12 months.

 

“The CITM reveals that the United States is one of the top five countries Chinese travelers visit the most,” Hotels.com vice president Josh Belkin said in a statement. “With tens of thousands of places to stay across the U.S., like distinctive boutiques, spacious vacation rentals and familiar chains, our site and mobile app have the perfect places for Chinese travelers of all ages and lifestyles.”

 

The CITM also noted Hawaii, New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle and San Francisco were among the top destinations in the U.S. for Chinese travelers.