Spain Aligns With More European Countries in Targeting China Outbound Travel While US Faces Growing Competition

Spain is joining a growing movement of European nations targeting China’s outbound tourism recovery. As European suppliers prepare for expanded engagement across Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai in 2027, the United States faces heightened competition due to shifting air connectivity, visa friction, and political dynamics.

The competition for Chinese outbound tourists is entering a different phase. Europe is no longer being promoted to Chinese travellers only through its largest and best-known gateways. Greater attention is being directed towards regional Chinese markets, changing traveller preferences and direct relationships with tour operators and travel buyers.

Spain was among 16 European markets represented in the 2026 China-focused tourism programme, together with France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The participating European tourism businesses covered hotels, attractions, rail, cruises, destinations, tour operations, destination-management services and retail.

That European engagement is now being expanded through a three-city programme planned for May 2027, increasing the pressure on competing long-haul destinations, including the United States.

Europe Is Expanding Its China Tourism Push Beyond Beijing and Shanghai

A broader tourism sales effort is being planned for China in 2027, with European travel suppliers scheduled to be taken into Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai for direct meetings with Chinese travel buyers.

The programme is due to begin in Beijing on 19 May 2027, continue in Chengdu on 21 May, and conclude its workshop programme in Shanghai on 24 May. The Shanghai sessions will take place immediately before ITB China from 25 to 27 May. Pre-arranged business meetings are expected to connect European tourism companies and destinations with vetted Chinese tour operators and travel buyers.

The inclusion of Chengdu for the first time is especially significant from a tourism-distribution perspective. Chinese outbound tourism is increasingly being viewed as a market that cannot be understood only through Beijing and Shanghai.

Western China contains major urban economies and expanding groups of consumers with the ability and interest to travel internationally. By taking European tourism products directly into another large Chinese city, distribution opportunities can potentially be widened beyond the traditional eastern gateways.

European markets represented in the China tourism initiative

The source material confirms representation by these markets in the 2026 programme. It does not establish that every national government listed has separately launched an individual China tourism strategy.

Chinese Outbound Travellers Are Returning With Different Priorities

The competition is becoming more important because the Chinese outbound travel market emerging after the pandemic is not identical to the market seen before 2020.

Organised group travel remains relevant, but demand is also being generated by independent travellers, families, younger consumers, luxury tourists, business visitors, MICE groups and experienced repeat travellers. These segments can require different products, sales channels and destination information.

European suppliers are therefore being prepared not only to sell products but also to understand how Chinese travel behaviour is changing.

Sessions planned around the programme include the new Chinese luxury traveller, group travel versus FIT, MICE demand, pricing European products and understanding the visa journey. The approach indicates that greater attention is being placed on market education rather than relying only on destination recognition.

For destinations such as Spain, this matters because the Chinese visitor market can support several tourism sectors at once. Cultural attractions, gastronomy, shopping, city tourism, luxury accommodation, sporting events and multi-destination itineraries can all be connected to Chinese long-haul demand.

Europe Is Already Seeing Strong Chinese Travel Interest

Chinese interest in European travel has already been reflected in long-haul travel research.

In 2025, 72% of surveyed Chinese travellers intending to take a long-haul journey said they planned to visit Europe during the summer, representing an increase of 10 percentage points year on year.

Europe offers an unusually broad mix of products within a comparatively compact geographical area. International travellers can combine historic cities, food, fashion, shopping, football, rail journeys, culture, luxury tourism and several countries within a single European trip.

This multi-country opportunity can be particularly valuable for long-haul visitors seeking more experiences from one international journey.

The 2027 China engagement programme is therefore being developed at a time when European destinations have evidence of existing Chinese travel interest and are seeking to convert that interest into bookings.

US Faces Competition for a Historically Valuable Chinese Market

Across the Atlantic, the United States remains one of the world’s most recognised long-haul destinations. New York, California, Hawaii, Florida, Las Vegas, national parks, universities, entertainment districts and major retail destinations have traditionally provided strong reasons for Chinese tourists to travel to America.

China was also once one of the United States’ most economically valuable international tourism markets.

Between 2015 and 2019, China represented 13.6% of US travel-export dollars, making it the country’s largest source market for travel-export revenue during that period. Chinese arrivals then fell heavily during the pandemic.

By 2023, Chinese visitation to the United States had recovered to approximately 1.1 million travellers, but this represented only around 38% of the 2019 level. Despite the lower number of visitors, almost US$21 billion in spending was still attributed to those travellers in the figures included in the source material.

Those numbers illustrate why competition for Chinese visitors has substantial economic importance.

China remained among the five largest overseas source markets for US inbound air travel during the third quarter of 2025, generating approximately 491,000 visitors during that quarter.

Overall US Arrivals Are Recovering but Competition Remains

The wider American inbound tourism market is continuing to recover.

The figures contained in the source material place total US international visitation at an estimated 68.3 million in 2025, followed by a projected 70.5 million in 2026. Arrivals are forecast to move towards approximately 85.2 million by 2030.

However, general international tourism recovery does not automatically guarantee a full return of the Chinese market.

Chinese travellers can choose from Europe, Asia-Pacific destinations, the Middle East and other long-haul markets. As more destinations compete for the same visitor, factors beyond attractions are increasingly being considered.

These include visa accessibility, direct air capacity, travel costs, destination marketing, distribution partnerships and perceptions of welcome.

For the US tourism sector, strong destination awareness remains an advantage. However, European suppliers are increasingly being connected directly with Chinese buyers, creating competition at the travel-distribution level before a visitor has selected a destination.

Visas and Geopolitics Are Becoming Part of Tourism Competition

Tourism cannot be separated completely from international relations.

Geopolitical tensions can filter into travel through aviation links, visa procedures, official travel information, business confidence and destination perceptions. The wider political relationship between China and the United States therefore forms part of the environment in which tourism recovery is taking place.

Europe also maintains significant political and commercial disagreements with China, and Chinese citizens generally continue to require a Schengen visa for tourism travel.

However, European information campaigns have been used to explain the Schengen process and the opportunity for eligible visitors to travel across participating European countries under a single visa framework.

This can support the appeal of multi-country holidays, particularly for travellers who want to combine destinations such as Spain, France, Italy, Germany or other European markets in one journey.

China Is Also Reducing Barriers for European Visitors

While European destinations compete for Chinese tourists, China itself has been reducing entry barriers for many European travellers.

Unilateral visa-free entry has been extended through the end of 2026 for ordinary passport holders from numerous European countries. Eligible travellers can make qualifying visits lasting up to 30 days.

Countries listed in the source include France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Croatia and Malta, among others.

The policy demonstrates the growing economic role that visa facilitation can play in international tourism.

For destinations competing for travellers, border procedures are increasingly being treated not only as immigration mechanisms but also as part of the overall visitor experience.

Spain and Europe Are Entering a Bigger Race for Chinese Travellers

The emerging tourism battle is therefore unlikely to be decided by famous landmarks alone.

European markets are being connected with Chinese tour operators, travel buyers and distribution networks, while suppliers are being educated about newer traveller segments and regional Chinese demand. Chengdu’s addition to the 2027 programme underlines the movement towards a broader geographical approach.

For Spain and other European destinations, the opportunity is substantial, but dependence on one source market would also carry risks.

The pandemic demonstrated how quickly international arrivals can disappear when access to a major market is interrupted. A diversified strategy involving China, the United States, India, the Gulf, Southeast Asia, Latin America and intra-European tourism is therefore presented as the more resilient approach.

Chinese outbound travel is rebuilding, but its future winners may not simply be the destinations that attracted the largest numbers before 2019.

Markets that improve distribution, understand the new Chinese traveller, maintain air access, simplify the visitor journey and remain visible to Chinese tourism buyers could be placed in a stronger position.

Spain is joining a broader Europe-wide push to attract more Chinese outbound travellers. Europe is expanding buyer engagement in China, while the US finds itself in more competitive terrain regarding visa hurdles, recovery and political pressures.

With European tourism engagement being broadened across Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai in 2027, the race for Chinese outbound travellers is being stepped up. Spain is a part of a wider European tourism landscape looking for that opportunity, while the United States is facing increasing competition for a high-value market that was once one of its most important sources of international tourism spend.