The UNWTO said that Chinese tourists spent a total of 257.7 billion U.S. dollars on international tourism in 2017, about one fifth of the total tourism revenue globally.

The report also shows that China took fourth place for the number of inbound tourists, while France, Spain and the United States took the top three places.

2017 saw a 7 percent increase in international tourist arrivals, the highest yearly growth since 2010, with 1.3 billion people making trips involving a stay of at least one night in a foreign country.

The fast development in global tourism in 2017 follows the rise in spending from Russia and Brazil, as well as many emerging economies, the UNWTO added.