Chinese tourists spend big at Olympics

Chinese tourists spent an average of 203.04 pounds ($318) per purchase in the first week of the London Olympic Games, topping the list of per-purchase spenders.

China tourists’per-purchase spending was 10 percent above that of the second-place United Arab Emirates visitors. Because of issues like visas and the long distance to London, China had fewer tourists than the US at the Games, and so Chinese tourists’ total spending was behind that of the US. But Chinese tourists are still "the most welcomed gods of British merchants" because of the amount spent on each purchase, said www.chinanews.com.

Tourists worldwide spent a total of 445 million pounds in the first week of the Olympic Games.

Chinese tourists are seen as the major force of British luxury consumption, including luxury handbags, apparel, and hotel and food services.