Travel experts today revealed the top international destinations for Chinese travelers during the seven day Chinese New Year holiday period that started this Monday, February 4th.
According to booking data for this year’s break, Thailand is the most popular destination, with Japan and Singapore ranked second and thirdly respectively. These are followed, in descending order, by Malaysia, the United States, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Vietnam, and South Korea.
eTN Chatroom: Discuss with readers from around the world:
While Spain and Italy have this year dropped out of the top ten countries, replaced by Vietnam and South Korea, nonetheless the two remain popular with Chinese tourists and come in at eleventh and twelfth place this year.
Additionally, a trend for Chinese travelers visiting a wider range of countries continues, with Chinese travelers booking hotels through the Hotelbeds bedbank platform in 102 countries during the Chinese New Year holiday period, up from 88 last year.
Chinese travelers have become the number one travel market globally and this is only set to grow significantly as the Chinese economy grows, while more and more Chinese people seek travel experiences abroad. Overseas travel during the traditional Chinese New Year is a different form of family festive activity. Many people take advantage of a week-long holiday by booking medium-to long-haul trips to popular international destinations, including Japan, Australia, the US, Southeast Asia and Europe.
The Chinese New Year holiday, also known as ‘Spring Festival’, is a seven-day national holiday in China that takes place from Monday February 4th to Sunday February 10th. The date of the Chinese New Year varies each year, according to China’s lunar calendar, and last year fell on February 16th.
According to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), a total of 6.5 million Chinese mainland tourists travelled aboard during the seven-day Chinese New Year holiday in 2018, with that figure set to increase to 7 million this year.
