China leads rise in outbound tourism spending  

(ECNS) -- Chinese tourists' expenditure on outbound travel grew 31 percent during the first half of 2013 from the same period of 2012, ranking first in the world, according to data released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

Following China, Russia boasted a 22 percent increase in expenditure on travel abroad in the same period.

Meanwhile, international tourist arrivals grew by 5 percent, which was above projections made at the beginning of the year (+3 to +4 percent).

Europe (+5 percent) performed surprisingly stronger than expected, driven by Central and Eastern Europe (+10 percent) and Southern and Mediterranean Europe (+6 percent).

Asia and the Pacific (+6 percent) also exceeded expectations, boosted by Southeast Asia (+12 percent) and South Asia (+7 percent).

However, results were weaker than anticipated in the Americas (+2 percent), as South America and the Caribbean lagged.