Chinese spending in Britain surges

BEIJING - The amount of cash Chinese tourists spent in Britain surged in the first half of 2013, with the British government set to launch a campaign to attract more of China's travellers.

According to official British statistics, Chinese visitors in Britain spent 181 million pounds in the first half of 2013, up 132 percent year on year.

British Culture Secretary Maria Miller said Thursday that Britain will become the most welcoming destination in Europe for Chinese visitors.

The campaign to be launched in spring 2014 will show how the UK travel industry caters to the needs of Chinese visitors, she said.

Miller said that the program to better welcome Chinese visitors aims to secure 650,000 visits a year by 2020, worth nearly 1.1 billion pounds annually.

She also announced that Birmingham Airport and Chinese tour operator Caissa will work together from 2014 to increase the number of visitors Caissa takes to the UK through Birmingham Airport.