It is expected that the number of Chinese people traveling abroad will reach a record during Golden Week from May 1 and Southeast Asia will welcome the most Chinese visitors.
CTrip, a famous online travel company in China, predicts that this year’s May 1 holiday, the country’s tourism industry will be more successful than last year. At the same time, Southeast Asian countries also benefit as tourists flock to the region and Asia-Pacific, with the number of foreign tourism expected to reach a record high. A report released by Ctrip on April 23 showed that the amount of money tourists paid to apply for visas for international trips this time also exceeded the same period in 2019.
According to CTrip, Southeast Asian countries are the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists this year because of their proximity and people enjoy bilateral visa exemption policies with countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Chinese tourists travel during the Lunar New Year. Image: EPA-EFE
Lin Huanjie, an expert at the Amusement Park Research Institute in China, said that outside of Southeast Asia, Hong Kong is still the top choice for Mainland visitors due to its proximity, convenient travel, simple entry and safety. with a rich culinary background. Guests can visit Hong Kong in one day and return home – an ideal tour for Chinese guests with a budget for travel.
Lin said that this country needs at least 2 years for the international tourism market (outbound) to recover. Three years of pandemic have left people exhausted mentally and financially, so they need time to recover. The current trend of saving spending among Chinese tourists will also be an opportunity for domestic tourism.
The number of domestic bookings in China increased by 68%, and ticket purchases to scenic areas increased by 151% over the same period last year. According to Chinese ticket seller Umetrip, since mid-April, the number of domestic flight ticket bookings for the holiday increased by 21% over the same period last year and increased by 41% compared to 2019. On May 1, 2023, there were nearly 4,000 bookings. 9 billion domestic trips, equal to more than 81% compared to the same period in 2019, but spending was only 74% of the pre-epidemic level with 678.1 billion USD.
In addition, Beijing has implemented many measures to attract international tourists such as loosening visa policies and expanding the visa exemption list, applying many international payment platforms for tourists to conveniently shop and pay. money.
The National Immigration Administration announced in March that the number of domestic tourists reached nearly 3 million in the first two months of the year and was 2.3 times higher than the previous year, equal to 41.5% of the pre-epidemic level.
This year, with the positive preliminary data above, the Chinese tourism industry is expected to have a bumper holiday season with sales exceeding the epidemic. Golden Week starting on May 1 in China is one of the two biggest tourist peaks of the year in this country, besides the national day holiday (October 1). Last year, Chinese people made about 240 million trips on this occasion, an increase of 104% compared to 2019.