Of all non-EU tourists to the Czech Republic, Chinese tourists spent more than any others. The company Global Blue, which handles VAT returns for foreigners visiting the country. It reports that the share of Chinese tourists in the total revenues from tourists was 31 percent, which was three percent higher than in 2016. They spent an average of CZK 17,907 while visiting the country. Russian tourists came in second, producing 25 percent of the total spend, but the amount they spent fell, on average to just CZK 7,096. Chinese spent most of their money (52 percent) on fashion and 34 percent on jewelry, according to Global Blue’s spokeswoman Zuzana Roubičková. “Among Russian tourists, the make-up of their shopping didn’t change dramatically. They spent the most on fashion (66 prcent) and on jewels (12 percent.)” The magazine Tyden cites the CzechTourism agency and the Czech Statistics Office as saying that 31.1 million foreigners visited the country in 2016, including 356,000 Chinese and 407,000 Russians.
