Chinese travel to US is falling after more than a decade of growth. According to the data collected from US Customs forms, travel from China to US fell 5.7% in 2018 to 2.9 million visitors. It was the first time since 2003 that Chinese travel to the US slipped from the prior year.
TURKEY BECAME THE FAVORITE DESTINATION
The trade war between the US and China is the main reason for the slowdown. The Trump administration had started imposing tariffs on products in January 2018, and the trade war has escalated from there. US now has a 25% tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, while China has retaliated with tariffs on $60 billion of US imports.
As a result, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Turkey has been on the rise.
394,000 CHINESE TOURISTS IN 2018
After China had declarated 2018 as Turkey Tourism Year, a great number of Chinese tourists had been made their way to Turkey. For the last 10 years, the number of Chinese tourists has been growing apace.
Turkish tourism companies are expecting an increase at twice the rate of Chinese tourist arrivals.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 394,000 Chinese tourists came to Turkey in 2018.