Chinese tourists will be taking advantage of their time off work during Labor Day week by traveling to Southeast Asia. Research from DidaTravel, a global travel distribution company, found that Thailand was the most popular destination for mainland travelers with Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam all in the top ten.
Overseas travel by Chinese tourists during Labor Day week, which runs from April 29 until May 3, is expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels. DidaTravel found that international hotel bookings this year were up 18 percent when compared to the same period in 2019. The average hotel stay duration is two room nights.
“We are delighted to see the return of Chinese outbound travel during the May Day holidays. It is testament to the pent-up demand for international travel that exists in China,” Rikin Wu, DidaTravel’s CEO and Founder, stated. “We look forward to working closely with our partners worldwide and getting ready to welcome ever more Chinese travelers in the coming months and years.”
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The rise in accommodation reservations unsurprisingly comes as outbound flight bookings from mainland China for the Labor Day week drastically picked up. Travelport found that these increased by 331 percent when compared to last year with most flights bound for Asia-Pacific cities.
Southeast Asia is the most popular destination for Chinese tourists during Labor Day week for a number of reasons. Rikin pointed out the wide range of attractions and experiences, from beautiful beaches and natural wonders to cultural landmarks and world-class shopping, as well as the region’s close proximity to China made it an ideal place to visit.
Thailand beat its first-quarter estimates as 6.15 million people visited the Kingdom to start the year. The government is predicting 25 to 30 million tourist arrivals for 2023 which would be more than double last year’s total.
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