Q – Do you happen to know which country has the most travelers, meaning residents who travel abroad. The question came up over dinner last night and the answers ranged from the United States, France, and England. Also wondering why you no lo longer answer questions about restaurants. We used to find that part of traveltruth really interesting.
A – In the case of England and France, those are good guesses if you are considering the percentage of citizens who leave the country each year on vacation. Given that only 29% of Americans have a passport, we’re near the bottom of the list of industrialized countries in terms of overseas travel. The answer is that China now sends more citizens abroad than any other nation. Bloomberg BusinessWeek estimates that a staggering 116 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad this year and they will spend upwards of $155 billion.
Perhaps most amazing is the fact that this represents a one year growth rate of 20% among Chinese who leave the country for vacation, making the Chinese the most significant tourism market on earth.
There has been no deliberate attempt to devote less coverage to worldwide restaurant recommendations. We respond to questions asked of us. We think that some of the better consumer travel magazines such as AFAR, Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler are doing a much better job of late featuring hot, new restaurants within their area of coverage. Some of the best restaurant advice can be curated from the blogs of the better Concierge teams at top-rated hotels.
