Chinese tourists spend $130 b overseas in 2018: Report

BEIJING -- Chinese tourists made 149 million overseas trips in 2018, with total spending amounting to $130 billion, according to a report released by the China Tourism Academy.

The data marked a year-on-year increase of 14.7 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the number of global travelers will exceed 1.8 billion by 2030. China is considered the world's fastest growing tourism market and will play a key role in the sector's development.

The domestic tourism market is also booming. In the first half of the year, China's domestic tourism revenue came in at 2.78 trillion yuan (about $402 billion), up 13.5 percent year on year, according to the report.

The academy predicted domestic tourism revenue will expand by 10 percent to reach 5.6 trillion yuan in 2019.