Mainland travelers made 6.15 million overseas trips during this year's Chinese New Year holidays. (Photo : Getty Images)
Mainland tourists made 6.15 million overseas trips during the Chinese New Year holiday, which lasted throughout a seven-day period that ended last Thursday. The China National Tourism Administration reported that this year’s figures comprise a 7 percent increase to last year’s.
The Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, annually features the world's largest human migration since many mainlanders see the long holiday as their only opportunity to visit their hometowns or spend vacation outside the country.
This year's figures for overseas travels have exceeded that of last year's Chunyun migration, with travel agencies having organized a total of 374,000 trips, increasing by 2.5 percent compared to last year's figures.
With the Chinese middle class growing from strength to strength, the Spring Festival has become an important holiday for mainlanders to spend their hard-earned money both for shopping and cultural experiences.
Larger incomes meant greater choices for holiday destinations for mainland tourists, who initially spent Chinese New Year in domestic destinations.
For instance, Japan has become a highly-popular destination for Chinese travelers with a penchant for shopping, with the Japanese term "bakugai" having become popular to describe mainlanders who splurge money on buying sprees in the country's large shopping centers.
Chinese tourists in Japan, however, have slowed down on shopping as of late, with many of them switching their preferences towards experiencing authentic Japanese culture.
The same trend in diversifying preferences among Chinese travelers have spread to other foreign destinations besides Japan, indicating that mainlanders are starting to exhibit more seasoned choices, in turn benefiting more sectors within the global tourism industry.
The Philippines, for instance, now benefits from mainland tourists looking to relax and enjoy in the archipelago's famous beaches--a far cry from their shopaholic tendencies prevalent not too long ago.
Kenya in Africa is a far more distant but exotic destination, with its biodiversity fast becoming a draw among tourists coming from the mainland.
Watch CGTN's report on Chinese travelers in Japan during the Chinese New Year below:
