China, the United States and Russia, the countries with the highest tourist spending in Europe

China, the United States and Russia are the countries with the highest tourist spending in Europe. The three countries lead the ranking made by Planet Shopper Index, which generally reduces the purchasing capacity of international tourists in European stores during the first quarter of the year.

On this occasion, overall tourist spending in Europe fell by two points, going from 97 points in the last quarter of 2018 to 95 points in the first quarter of the year. This situation was due to the increase in the value of the pound sterling and international expenditure in the United Kingdom, which hindered purchasing power in the remaining of the continent.

Only eleven countries out of 25 surpassed the one hundred point index, which is indicative of their greater purchasing power compared to the rest of the countries. In this sense, China leads the list in first position with a score of 494, against the United States, which occupies the second position, with 161 points. The Asian giant, despite being the first country in the ranking, reduced its gap by four points compared to other nations while the average transaction value of Chinese tourists went from 801 euros to 868 euros, which was driven by the celebrations of the Chinese New Year in the first quarter of the year.

For its part, the United States score fell below any other country, which was motivated by the fall of the dollar between January and March of this year after its value grew exponentially throughout 2018. However, the country occupied the second place of Planet Shopper having experienced a rise in the average cost per transition from 547 euros to 647 euros of the last index.

The third place on the list is occupied by Russia, with 147 points. The purchasing power of its citizens has been affected in recent years by the submission of international sanctions and the fall in oil prices. However, the decline in inflation in recent months, from 3.9% in the last quarter of 2018 to 2.6% in the first quarter of the year (a step below the objectives of 4% of the Central Bank of Russia) has caused an increase in purchasing power. This outlook has been fueled in part by the strengthening of the ruble against the euro, which has increased the current average ticket from 519 euros to 526 euros.
 
 

Hong Kong is the country with the highest tourist spending in Europe, with 1,015 euros 

Japan, the third largest consumer market after the United States and China, was the country that registered the greatest increase in the list during the last three months. The country climbed five positions, up to 12th place, due to low inflation rates and the strengthening of the yen against the euro and the pound. For its part, the Hong Kong tourist is the one that spends the most in European stores, with an average per transaction of 1,015 euros, followed by the Vietnamese, with 986 euros.
 
The countries with the lowest positions in the Planet Shopper index were the Philippines and Singapore, descending three positions, reaching the fifteenth and sixteenth positions, respectively. The list is closed by Australia, with 78 points, followed by Mexico, with 76 points, Israel, with 75, Turkey, with 73 and Argentina, with 39.