UK was biggest source of foreign tourists to Boston. Now it’s China.
A record number of Chinese tourists visited Boston last year, dethroning the United Kingdom as the number one source of overseas tourists for the first time, according to initial estimates. And next month, local tourism officials are leading their first sales mission to China to attract even more.
The number of Chinese visitors to the area has more than doubled over the past four years, to an estimated 230,000 last year, according to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. The surge came as airlines added nonstop routes to Boston from several Chinese cities and new visa policies eased travel to the United States.
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