More than 2 mln Chinese estimated to travel overseas this week

HONG KONG, Oct. 4 (Yonhap) -- More than 2 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel overseas this week for a weeklong major national holiday, a report showed Tuesday.
China's seven-day National Day holiday, which started on Oct. 1, usually fuels a spending spree among Chinese people. Outbound travel has recently become a more common option for the Chinese to spend their holidays.
The China Tourism Academy, a Beijing-based research institute, said that 2.2 million Chinese tourists will travel overseas from Saturday through Friday.
The academy said that the Maldives, Phuket Island in Thailand, Bali Island in Indonesia, Hong Kong and South Korea are among the destinations preferred by mainland Chinese tourists during the holiday.
Each Chinese tourist was expected to spend US$950 on average during the holiday.
In 2010, 57.4 million Chinese people went overseas, up 20.4 percent from the previous year. Chinese tourists were estimated to have spent $55 billion, compared to $8 billion in 1995.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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