World's Biggest Spenders On Tourism (PHOTOS)

Here's yet another marker of China's growing prosperity: Chinese tourists now spend more on international tourism than do the French, according to a United Nations World Tourism Organization report released last month.

Chinese travelers spent over $43 billion on travel abroad in 2009, up from $36 billion the year before, the report said.

Overall, the latest report indicates that money spent abroad by tourists in 2009 dropped to $852 billion, down from $942 in 2008.

Here are the top countries for international tourism expenditures, based on the current report. Vote on the most surprising big spender.

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Comments

[katagana]

06:25 AM on 05/16/2010

The Netherlands is the odd one out in this list. Only 16 million people and still that high in such a list..

[Hillrick]

10:19 AM on 05/11/2010

Va...ca...shun? What is this word? I am not sure of it's meaning. 'Course, maybe if I were not on HP and working at my business I would know....

[goddessNdiva]

09:27 AM on 05/11/2010

ROFL...what's going in the Netherlands photo?

[katagana]

06:24 AM on 05/16/2010

Someone trying to get rid of a corpse? :P I hope not..

[nexxtep54]

01:50 PM on 05/09/2010

No one can spend like these guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu4U77msBLQ

[davidwayneosedach]

12:47 PM on 05/09/2010

China will take over the number one spot during this century.

[Two Cents]

07:39 AM on 05/16/2010

. . . there are more people there which means there are (I would guess) more travelers--what would be more revealing is how much each person (or family) spends for travel abroad.

[LatteLiberals]

08:54 AM on 05/09/2010

Its articles like these that I wish the Huffington Post would require posters to identify what part of the world they are posting from.

Cheap shots galore directed at Americans from posters who are too cowardly to identify where they come from.

[ljkcan]

12:21 AM on 05/10/2010

I won't take a cheap shot at Americans it is always a pleasure to see them in Canada. I myself am going to the US to shop in a few weeks. The only thing that has slowed down Americans coming to Canada is the recession and the new rules regarding passports. Take heart at least you have ones that last for 10 years. Ours are only good for 7.

[KIVPossum]

04:37 AM on 05/15/2010

OK, take a shot. American posting from east Europe.

In my travels and my businesses, what I see (making broad generalizations) is:
Americans - basically nice, want everything to be like it is back home in Iowa, avoid local food in search of a Pizza Hut, seem confused about cultural differences
Germans -friendly enough, less cultural respect than Americans, and fill their pockets up at buffet tables
Russians - never tip, always in a good humor, appreciate most anything done for them
Dutch and Italians - best visitors to foreign nations in terms of respect and behavior
Brits - good enough except often too loud and boisterous
Japanese - always in a hurry

[netzwerg]

04:13 AM on 05/09/2010

Imagine how productive the US might be if they had NO vacation.

[Two Cents]

07:41 AM on 05/16/2010

. . . many (if not most) Americans don't have vacations--or at least not real ones. The average annual holiday is only two weeks. We work ourselves to death . . . and, on average, don't have much to show for it regarding quality of life, IMHO.

[GerryS]

01:14 AM on 05/09/2010

the french women,

kiss all of them,

then the Italian women next-----------------------

[skyslimit]

01:41 PM on 05/09/2010

sorry i got hair in my teeth!

[Semper Troll]

12:00 AM on 05/09/2010

The Japanese are good people. I also like the Russians.

[Faxus]

11:15 PM on 05/08/2010

Chinese tourists are most welcome to visit the United States and see for themselves the successes of our democratic system.

[David Rozgonyi]

04:40 AM on 05/15/2010

Why not? They own a lot of it...

[LMPE]

02:40 PM on 05/08/2010

As it happens, I suspect that a noticeable percentage of the US population refuses to spend on tourism because they refuse to be anywhere that isn't America.

[BritishColumbian]

03:04 PM on 05/08/2010

Or like many "westerners" travel on cruise ships which means they take their own "culture" with them. You really can't experience travelling unless you are immersed in the city/country you are visiting.

I am surprised that Australians aren't included on the list as I have met many of them when I travel. It must have something to do with population.

For example, Canada's population is one tenth of the United States and still spends over 24 billion.

[Lahonda]

09:27 PM on 05/08/2010

My thoughts exactly... per capita consumption of tourism are surprising with the adjustments in statistics re: order of countries. Here's some not-so-recent data.

"Territory size shows the spending of residents (in US dollars) when they make tourist visits abroad. The four biggest tourist spenders are the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan.

The average tourist spending in 2003 was US$ 92 per person in the world. However, this is unevenly distributed. At a territorial level per capita spending ranges from US$ 6 005 to four US cents. The highest per capita tourist spenders are the Luxembourgeois, Kuwaitis and Austrians. Afghanistanis, the Burmese/Myanmars and Ethiopians spend the least per capita as tourists"

[ljkcan]

12:24 AM on 05/10/2010

Think of all the snowbirds that go to the US for 6 months. I consider that travel.
I agree I was in France last year and there were many Australians.

[CologneCitizen]

01:21 AM on 05/09/2010

One should consider the US is a huge country. And between the big metropolitan areas people are literally living in the sticks. Now depending on their intellectual range and interest, many would probably be interested most what happens in their county, then the next big city, the state capital, then maybe some coast, then NY or DC, all of this is a guess of course. And plus on top the constant brainwashing for ages to be living in the greatest country on earth, or even god's own country. Add Fox news and their bashing of foreign socialist nanny states and very few uninformed have the urge to go abroad.

When I heard that George Bush, although priviliged in any sense, did not travel a lot abroad before he turned 40, it matched the picture I had of him before. Cultural and intellectual disinterest in other countries, no more, no less, goes for Sarah Palin BTW as well.

[WestCoastftw]

12:01 AM on 05/12/2010

Seriously try taking off the partisan glasses once and awhile. Your bizarre funhouse mirror view of America in no way matches reality. Americans of all political viewpoints travel through out the world and are for more connected with other country's/cultures then you seem to understand. Take a deep breath, turn off msnbc and try talking to your neighbors once and while. The conversations might surprise you.

[wired]

02:10 PM on 05/08/2010

"There is an old Polish proverb over a 100 years old
''the J e w cries out in pain as he strikes you''
True then, true today.”

That is part of a comment posted for this article. Was that quoted from some extremist website? I almost threw up reading it.

[MarjoleinDeJong]

04:39 PM on 05/08/2010

People the world over know that is the way it is.

They always are the victim......where you born yesterday?

[UpstateNY]

05:05 PM on 05/08/2010

I won't reply to either of you - but I am happy to flag you both as abusive.

[wired]

11:53 PM on 05/08/2010

Explain how my statement was abusive, please.

[drumsgirl]

01:18 PM on 05/08/2010

No wonder Europeans has to give so much vacation time - you have to get something for the outrageous taxes paid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Income_Taxes_By_Country.svg

[MarjoleinDeJong]

01:51 PM on 05/08/2010

I paid 42 percent all in on 55 k before retiring.,

I added up all the nickel and dime taxes I paid living in the USA and came out about the same and got nothing for it.

Worst infrastructure in modern world.

[Rafalsays]

02:49 PM on 05/08/2010

so according to your graphic Mexico and Korea ( 1 and 2) are what the US tax system should be more like? I rather live in the countries towards the bottom of the chart....

[thecesar]

08:25 PM on 05/08/2010

big mouth. You won't do it.

[Notawingnut]

01:08 PM on 05/08/2010

Per capita numbers please?

If the US has 10 times more people than any single country in Europe, and we spend a little more finite money on travel, it hardly counts to say we are big vacationers.

[Progressneeded]

01:18 PM on 05/08/2010

I was thinking the same. In that case we China would be last followed by Russia then US.

[trccommission]

05:16 PM on 05/08/2010

Not really, the US has 4 times the population of germany, and 3 times that of Russia.

[Notawingnut]

06:10 PM on 05/08/2010

You're going to use math to refute me, but yet ignore the ratios I alluded to? The US spends on average $238 per citizen on vacation. Germany spends $985 per citizen. I'd say the german's are enjoying about 4 times the vacation americans are.

[jfair80]

01:04 PM on 05/08/2010

Americans would spend more if we could only get more time off.

[escribacat]

02:17 AM on 05/09/2010

Good point. We get about a third or a quarter of the vacation time Europeans get.