VisitBritain is anticipating a boost in visits from China as Chinese New Year gets underway this weekend.
Chinese New Year is a prime time of travel for the Chinese and Britain is gearing up to host some of the largest celebrations outside Asia, including dragon parades in Manchester, lion dances in Birmingham and festivals and events in London’s China Town, Glasgow, Newcastle, Cumbria and the Isle of Wight.
Latest flight booking data shows that bookings from China to the UK were up 81% for January 2017 compared to the same month last year, and up 43% for January to March this year.
China is the world’s most valuable outbound tourism market and VisitBritain has announced partnerships with Hainan Airlines and Alitrip, Alibaba Group’s tourism arm, to drive growth in visits from China.
VisitBritain Director Patricia Yates said: "Britain is offering great value for Chinese visitors right now. This is traditionally one of the busiest travel times for Chinese travellers and we want Britain to be top of their list as a must-go now destination."
Chinese visitors are some of the UK’s highest spenders, spending on average £2,174 during their visit, more than three and a half times the average.
As of the end of December 2016, Britain was 11% more affordable for visitors from China compared with the same month in 2015.
Chinese visitors also stay longer and travel more across Britain than other international visitors, averaging 15 nights compared to eight for other visitors, with more than half of this time spent outside London.
