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Some 6 million Chinese are expected to travel abroad during the upcoming Spring Festival holidays, a record high for a week-long holiday, according to a report by Ctrip. The 10 most popular destinations include Thailand, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. South Korea fell to seventh from third in 2015, according to the report.
However, the number of Chinese traveling to Southeast Asian countries, especially the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia, is on the rise mainly due to low costs and geographical advantage. Besides, bookings for farther destinations have peaked, with the US and Australia as the most popular, according to the report. The cost of traveling to Thailand, the US and the Philippines is 5-15% higher than last year. However, it's cheaper to travel to South Korea, Singapore and Italy, down 10-30% from the previous year, according to the report. Travel surge The number of Chinese booking for trips overseas is about four times higher than for domestic travel, data from Ctrip shows. Easier visa application requirements, more flights and lower prices have induced overseas travel, according to the report. More favorable visa policies toward Chinese will be implemented by the end of the year. The National Development and Reform Commission and National Tourism Administration issued a joint statement Wednesday to implement key travel and leisure projects, actively guide social capital into the tourism industry, continuously improve infrastructure and the public service system and enhance travel packages and services to embrace the coming era of mass tourism and leisure. The aim is to boost travel consumption to RMB 7 trillion by 2020, contributing more than 10% to national economic growth, said the statement posted on their websites. |
