Most popular country

The United States was by far the most popular country to visit for Chinese travelers. The gambling capital of Las Vegas climbed to No 2 and New York maintained its position at No 3 with west coast cities Los Angeles at No 4 and San Francisco gaining one place at No 9.

Researcher Jiang said the number of Chinese visitors to the United States grew more than 25 percent in 2012 over 2011 thanks to a relaxing of visa restrictions that contributed to an increase of 40 percent in visa numbers.

In the United States, Chinese travelers parted with more for their hotel stays during 2012 in 10 of the 14 US destinations included in the report, as the stronger economy coupled with increased international and domestic travelers drove significant double-digit increases.

Crisscrossing the continent, the steepest rise was in the west coast city of San Francisco, which saw a 21 percent increase to 1,285 yuan a day and the theme park capital of Orlando in Florida, up by the same percentage to 724 yuan.

Back in California, Anaheim, site of the Disneyland Resort, was up 19 percent to 1,019 yuan followed by Miami, again on the east coast, up 10 percent to 1,328 yuan.

Some of the major northeast cities did not fare so well with Washington DC down 13 percent to 1,168 yuan, Philadelphia down 9 percent to 1,101 yuan while New York, the highest priced US destination and at No 2 in the price overall table, was up 5 percent to 1,788 yuan.

In Europe, Paris was the highest European entrant for Chinese travelers, helped by the relaxation of visa regulations for Chinese travelers, followed by London in its Olympic year, rising three to No 12.

The number of Chinese travelers to Europe increased 10 percent year-on-year, according to researcher Jiang, citing the impact of an appreciated Chinese yuan and declining hotel rates.

Average daily hotel prices in Europe paid by Chinese travelers fell substantially, helped very much by the economic situation in the eurozone, which deterred travel to and within the most affected countries.

Venice led the way with a slide of 22 percent to 1,210 yuan, followed by Zurich, down 20 percent to 1,286 yuan. A 19 percent fall in both Stockholm and London took them to 1,158 yuan and 1,550 respectively.

There were only three risers: Nice up 11 percent to 1,536 yuan, Munich up 8 percent to 1,297 yuan and Paris up 1 percent to 1,559 yuan to No 3 in the overall price chart, making it the European destination where Chinese travelers paid the most.

Dubai was the destination where the Chinese paid the highest average prices overall during 2012, with the Middle East city recording a figure of 1,870 yuan, even after a 16 percent fall.

Vancouver in Canada dropped 11 percent to 1,056 yuan, still higher than Toronto on 944 yuan, the same level as 2011.

In the Pacific region, Auckland rose 10 percent to 752 yuan. During the year when Chinese travelers took over from the British as the second highest inbound market for Australia, Sydney saw a 5 percent increase to 1,259 yuan and Melbourne was down 4 percent to 1,032 yuan.

Globally, the average price of a hotel room rose by 3 percent during 2012, compared with that in 2011. The survey found that prices climbed for all regions apart from Europe and the Middle East, where there was a slight fall.

By Wang Zhuoqiong (China Daily)