The rise of Chinese travellers
HONG KONG-- The number of Chinese travellers making international trips was up by a strong 22 per cent[1] in 2011, compared to 2010, and experts predict China is on track to overtake Germany and the US as the world's largest outbound tourism market in the next few years[2]. Launched today, the inaugural Chinese International Travel Monitor[3](CITM) from Hotels.com [http://www.hotels.com ](R), one of the world's leading online hotel booking websites, gives an insight into how the rise of the Chinese traveller is changing the dynamics of the global hotel market. Johan Svanstrom, Managing Director of Hotels.com Asia Pacific, commented: "The Chinese made a staggering 70 million[4] international trips in 2011 and, while many of these were to Hong Kong and Macau, the number going further afield is growing significantly. Implementing strategies to cater specifically to this burgeoning source market is moving from a nice-to-have to a competitive necessity." Surveying mo