Tourism spending power index rises for third straight year

During this Spring Festival, Sanya and Harbin remained popular domestic tourist destinations. Moreover, Lijiang, Xiamen, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Urumchi, Changchun, Shenyang and Tianjin also ranked in the top 10.

The people living in the first- and second-tier cities were main force on tourist spending, and the people's travelling demand from third- and lower- tier cities increased.

According to the report, tourist spending from first- and second-tier cities accounted for 63.6 percent in the domestic sector while the number of tourist from third-tier cities such as Anqing, Lu'an and Taizhou rose rapidly, and saw a huge tourism consumption potential.

Another report from online travel agency Ctrip said 57 percent travelers chose 4-6 days trip and 23 percent travelers chose 7 days or more.

Ctrip's report said the average spending in outbound travelling was 7,000 yuan ($1,033), or double that of domestic travelling.

China's top 10 departure cities to outbound travelling were Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Nanjing, Qiangdao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jinan and Chengdu. Tourists from Beijing spent most during outbound travelling to nearly 9,000 yuan per trip, followed by Shanghai at around 8,500 yuan.