July 19 - Chinese travellers nearly doubled their spending on tax-free goods in 2010 to 1.3 billion euros ($1.84 billion), international duty-free outlet specialists Global Blue said.

Passengers walk by duty free shops near the gates at Hong Kong International Airport. - photo: corbis

This was the first time that Chinese travellers had led spending on tax-free goods, ahead of the Russians, Japanese, Americans and Indonesians, Global Blue said.

France was the destination with the highest amount of duty-free sales, accounting for 19 percent of the total, followed by Britain and Italy each with 15.0 percent, Singapore 12.0 percent and Germany 12.0 percent.

In France, Chinese travellers led the value of tax-free spending with 298.9 million euros, a 92-percent jump from the figure for 2009. The Russians came next, spending 143.4 million euros, an increase of 29.0 percent.

Spending worldwide by South Koreans on duty-free merchandise increased by 97 percent in 2010, by Thai travellers by 79 percent, and by Brazilians by 48 percent.