China’s online travel platform Qunar released data on the 3rd, showing that during the New Year’s Day holiday, all of the top ten most popular outbound travel destinations for Chinese travelers were located in Asia, with Seoul, South Korea, being the most popular outbound destination.
The remaining destinations, in order, are Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Macau, Jeju Island, Ho Chi Minh City, Chiang Mai, and Hanoi.
Data shows that during the New Year’s Day holiday, Qunar platform users flew to nearly a thousand cities and booked hotels in almost 3,000 cities worldwide.
With the increase in international flights, during the New Year’s Day holiday, the number of air tickets from China to Brazil increased nearly threefold year-on-year; the volume of tickets to visa-free countries like Georgia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan also saw year-on-year growth of over 100%.
Hainan Attracts Tourists from Malaysia and Thailand
Regarding inbound tourism, after the implementation of Hainan’s customs closure operations, the popularity of its culture and tourism market further surged, and the number of foreign travelers celebrating the New Year in Hainan noticeably increased. Platform data shows that during the New Year’s Day holiday, Haikou and Sanya were the two fastest-growing Chinese cities in terms of inbound air ticket volume, with year-on-year increases of over threefold and fivefold respectively; the main sources of inbound tourists were Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia, and Russia.
Besides Hainan, other Chinese cities popular with inbound tourists during the New Year’s Day holiday include many charming small cities such as Dali, Xishuangbanna, Beihai, Xuzhou, and Zhanjiang. These cities each saw year-on-year increases of over threefold in inbound air ticket volume, with the main sources of inbound tourists being China’s “near neighbors,” including Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, and others.