Wholesale travel broker Tourico Holidays detailed a huge rise in inbound hotel room bookings to China, recording a 106% annual jump.
Several source markets showed big rises in travel to China including India and the UAE which were up more than 100%, Brazil and most surprisingly South Korea.
Outbound travel from China to South Korea has been hit hard by political tensions but so far travel in the opposite direction is holding strong, according to Tourico’s data.
It says hotel bookings from the Korean market grew 68% year-on-year.
"Regional political turmoil, such as the nuclear crisis in the Korean Peninsula, make the inbound China market more unpredictable this year – as Korea was the number one inbound source country for China last year – but, so far, Chinese travel business remains very strong," said Hillary Wang, the regional director of product development in North Asia for Tourico Holidays.
"In fact, Tourico is predicting it will double its overall Chinese business in 2017, as both the larger markets and emerging markets continue to demand product in China."
Greater China is key for Tourico which already has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong supporting local partners and distribution clients.
"Our local Chinese supplier partners and distribution clients are both experiencing a strong demand in 2017 and we’ve ensured that a dedicated support team is in place to help them push their businesses to the next level," said Wang.
The company is present at the first ITB China this week which takes place on May 10-12.
