China Tourism Statistics and Hotel Booking Data for 2014

Beijing, China, March 11, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nehow.com ( http://www.nehow.com/ ) verified via hotel booking data that 118,143 tourists from 189 countries visited China during 2014. This is a 10% growth rate from 2013 with America still the main source of tourism, while tourists from Japan increased by 11%. Additional year-on-year growth figures are provided below. 

Tourist Sources

        #1) United States (14,330 Tourists) +4%

        #2) United Kingdom (9,096 Tourists) +13%

        #3) Australia (8,696 Tourists) +3%

Interesting Data Points

        #6) Russia (6,596 Tourists) +144%

        #18) Philippines (1,719 Tourists) -23%

        #31) Saudi Arabia (631 Tourists) +101%

The top cities visited remained the same, but some new patterns in less visited areas of China emerged. For example, Jining, Jiaxing, and Mudanjiang saw a rise in tourism of over 200% during 2014.

Cities Visited by Tourists

        #1) Beijing (48,901 Tourists) +11%

        #2) Shanghai (37,082 Tourists) +14%

        #3) Guangzhou (12,528 Tourists) +14%

Interesting Data Points

        #21) Tianjin (887 Tourists) -24%

        #24) Wuxi (561 Tourists) -26%

        #28) Changsha (353 Tourists) -33%

Hotel bookings showed strong growth in 2014, especially in cities offering the 72-Hour Visa Free transit program. Many of the top 10 rated hotels in those cities saw an increase in bookings of over 50%.

Beijing Hotels

     #1 Ranked Hotel: Novotel Hotel Peace Beijing (1,874 Bookings) +28%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/beijing-hotels-g1014871/h1015575-novotel-hotel-peace-beijing/}

     #2 Ranked Hotel: Park Plaza Wangfujing Hotel (1,522 Bookings) +6%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/beijing-hotels-g1014871/h1015565-park-plaza-wangfujing-hotel/}

     #3 Ranked Hotel: Grand Millennium Hotel Beijing (1,712 Bookings) +235%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/beijing-hotels-g1014871/h1015569-grand-millennium-hotel-beijing/}

Shanghai Hotels

     #1 Ranked Hotel: Grand Central Hotel Shanghai (1,566 Bookings) +67%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/shanghai-hotels-g1014692/h1015042-grand-central-hotel-shanghai/}

     #2 Ranked Hotel: The Bund Riverside Hotel Shanghai (1,034 Bookings) +38%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/shanghai-hotels-g1014692/h1015027-the-bund-riverside-hotel-shanghai/}

     #3 Ranked Hotel: Puli Hotel Shanghai (939 Bookings) +10%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/shanghai-hotels-g1014692/h1015049-puli-hotel-shanghai/}

Guangzhou Hotels

     #1 Ranked Hotel: Baiyun Hotel Guangzhou (1,878 Bookings) +127%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/guangzhou-hotels-g1014463/h1016270-baiyun-hotel-guangzhou/}

     #2 Ranked Hotel: The Garden Hotel Guangzhou (522 Bookings) +66%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/guangzhou-hotels-g1014463/h1016242-the-garden-hotel-guangzhou/}

     #3 Ranked Hotel: Bauhinia Hotel Guangzhou (1,204 Bookings) +166%

        ^{http://www.nehow.com/hotels/guangzhou-hotels-g1014463/h1016265-bauhinia-hotel-guangzhou/}

Nehow.com is a much more China-focused company when compared to other online travel agencies like Agoda & Booking.com which are apart of the Priceline Group (Nasdaq:PCLN), Expedia (Nasdaq:EXPE), and TripAdvisor (Nasdaq:TRIP).  This, coupled with the ongoing Chinese government expansion of the visa-free program, is expected to continue attracting China inbound tourists to book their hotels at Nehow.com.