The World Tourism Organization says that by 2010 China will exceed Spain and become the world's second most popular travel country, and by 2020 it will become the largest travel destination in the world.

The Madrid-based organization says that despite the appreciation of RMB value in 2006, China's inbound tourists increased by 6% in the year and reached 49.6 million.

WTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli and Marketing Information and Promotion Department director Johann Kestner both estimate that China will see faster growth and will exceed Spain in the next four years.

Frangialli says that China, which has abundant capacity in tourist reception facilities, will probably surpass France by 2020 and become the most popular travel destination in the world.

WTO statistics show that China's outbound tourists increased from 20 million in 2003 to 31 million in 2005.