(Yicai Global) Sept. 27 -- Revenue at Club Med’s China resorts is expected to nearly double next year from 2019 and Chinese tourists will become the French tourism operator’s biggest source of income by 2024, The Paper reported yesterday, citing the chief executive officer of the firm’s China division.

Club Med, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Fosun Tourism Group, expects revenue at its China resorts to increase by between 80 percent and 100 percent next year from 2019, Andrew Xu said. The club has been expanding rapidly in the country since the Fosun takeover and has another eight resorts in the pipeline. Its latest offering in scenic Lijiang, southwestern Yunnan province, opened for business at the weekend.

Worldwide revenue from Chinese tourists is expected to surge from 2023 as the Chinese government is likely to lift curbs on outbound travel by the end of next year, Xu said. That could see visitor numbers swell by 400,000.

Seven resorts in China logged an almost tripling of revenue in the first half from the same year last year, according to the Paris-based firm’s latest earnings report. However, earnings in Europe, Africa and the Middle East dropped 74.3 percent year on year, 42.8 percent in the US and 56 percent in the Asia-Pacific region.

Editor: Kim Taylor