US Inbound Travel from China Continues Not to Recover

2023 US visitor numbers from China recovered to only 60% of pre-pandemic level, for a variety of reasons including an uncertain Chinese economy, shift from consumption to savings, high long-haul airfares, and rising political tensions.

Instead of coming to the US, Chinese travelers are now more likely to visit nearby countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, which in addition to being reachable at lower airfares are also offering visa-free travel to lure visitors from China.

Economist Intelligence and NTTO predict that outbound travel to the US from China will not return to 2019 level until (respectively) 2025 or 2026.

In 2023, Chinese visitors spent an average of $4137 per trip in the US, vs. an overseas visitor average spend of $1850.

Recovery to 2019 level of inbound travel from China would add $30B to the US economy, and support 50,000 incremental jobs.