The number of tourists to China has declined in recent years because of the nation’s serious pollution problem. In 2014, the number of inbound tourists and overnight tourists to China dropped by 0.45% and 0.11% respectively, according to a report by the China Tourism Academy. China had 128,498,300 inbound tourists in 2014, and 55,662,000 overnight tourists (travelers who stay one or more nights in the country).

China is now ranked fourth in the world for tourism after France, the United States, and Spain. China’s market is on the decline, but the global tourism market is on the rise. In 2014, 1.138 billion people traveled, an increase of 4.7%. Europe, Asia, and the Americas are still popular international tourist destinations.

While the number of tourists coming to China is still relatively low, most tourists have said that they were “basically satisfied,” with their trip to China. In 2014, tourist satisfaction index was 73.97 (out of 100), which is 1.49 points lower than it was in 2013.

The amount of smog and haze in 2014 had a direct impact on the tourist satisfaction in China. Foreign tourists are more sensitive to air quality than domestic Chinese tourists. There have even been international travel warnings in foreign media because of China’s pollution levels.

Other factors that deter tourists to China include terrorist attacks, missing flights, uncivilized behavior of residents, and other environmental factors.

Source: thepaper.cn

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Keywords: China bad air China pollution China tourism