Chinese Spring Festival trips to near 6m
TOURISM destinations around the world are expected to see nearly 6 million visits by Chinese travellers, possibly the highest number on record, during the Spring Festival holiday that begins on February 7.
Ctrip, an online travel service, released its tourism outlook for Spring Festival on Thursday. The report said more than 60 per cent of Chinese tourists would spend the holiday overseas. The most distant destination is the Antarctic.
Spring Festival is one of the peak seasons for the Chinese outbound tourism industry. Despite being a traditional season for family reunions, many have chosen to spend the holiday travelling.
According to the China National Tourism Admin-istration, Chinese tourists paid more than 120 million visits overseas last year, with 5.18 million of those paid to foreign countries and regions during Spring Festival, an increase of 10 per cent year on year. The reasons behind the rise are loosened visa requirements for Chinese, better flight connections and preferential policies to facilitate overseas consumption.
“Those overseas destinations that have simplified the visa-application process for Chinese have seen more bookings, including the United States, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and Vietnam,” said Yan Xin, a publicity officer at Ctrip.
“In the seven days of the holiday, Chinese tourists will visit more than 100 countries and regions, with the farthest [away] being the Antarctic.”
According to Ctrip, eight of the 10 most popular overseas destinations are in Asia, including Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
Zhang Ying, 28, from Wuxi, Jiangsu province, said she would visit Thailand with her family during Spring Festival because of the holiday spirit in the Kingdom.
“Some of the Asian countries share a similar Spring Festival culture with China, and that’s what I don’t want to miss during my holiday,” Zhang said.
“It is exciting to experience a different Spring Festival in another Asian country.”
