True to form, plenty of Chinese spilled out into different parts the nation and even out of the country in celebration of the Chinese New Year. According to Forbes, the following trends were the most observed during the recently concluded holiday.
Travelling with Family
Family travel is one of the most anticipated segments to boost outbound travel in China, according to ForwardKeys. In Dec. 2016 alone, family bookings have risen by 18 percent.
The increase in family travel is attributed to two factors. First, rather than flying home, young professionals nowadays are more likely to fly their family over to their current location. Other young workers are also taking the chance to treat their families on holidays or overseas travel.
"Young professionals living away from home are willing to spend more money to ensure their ageing parents especially travel in comfort by booking full service flights for them," said James Huang, market development manager for Wego North Asia, in an interview with Forbes.
Outbound Travel to Europe
According to ForwardKeys, bookings for a European travel tour were up by 56 percent for this year's Chinese New Year holiday. Central/Eastern and Northern Europe were particularly popular, while bookings to Turkey was exceptionally low--a fact attributed by the current political climate in the country.
Some of the top destinations among Chinese travelers include Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, and even France, despite having suffered numerous terrorist attacks in the past few months.
Asian Holidays Still Popular
While bookings to Europe have significantly increased for Chinese New Year, Asian destinations still remain the top choice for Chinese travelers. In fact, nine of the top 10 overseas destinations favored by the Chinese are all found within the Asia-Pacific region, based on data from travel portal Ctrip.
Thailand and Japan rank the highest, while the United States ranked third. Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam complete the list.
Outbound Travel Spending Remain Strong
Chinese travelers are known as some of the biggest spenders in the tourism industry. Ctrip estimated those who went on overseas travel (of which there are about 6 million) spent an approximate total of 100 billion yuan, which is roughly $14.5 billion.