TOP DESTINATIONS FOR CHINESE TRAVELLERS

Hotelbeds has today revealed the top international destinations for Chinese travellers during the seven day Chinese New Year holiday period starting on Friday 24th January.

According to Hotelbeds’ booking for this year’s break, Thailand is the most popular destination, with Japan and Singapore ranking second and thirdly respectively for two consecutive years. These are followed, in descending order, by Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, the US, Philippines, Spain, and Italy in tenth place.
Whilst it is noteworthy that Vietnam and South Korea have this year dropped out of the top ten countries, replaced by Spain and Italy respectively, nonetheless the two remain popular with Chinese tourists and come in at eleventh and fifteenth place this year.

Additionally, it should be noted that a trend for Chinese travellers visiting a wider range of countries continues, with Chinese travellers booking hotels through the Hotelbeds bedbank to travel 104 countries for the Chinese New Year holiday period, up from 102 last year and only 88 in 2018.

China remains the 4th biggest source market for Hotelbeds globally and the company offers Chinese travel intermediaries – such as tour operators, airlines, points redemption schemes, and retail travel agents – access to over 180,000 hotels, 24,000 transfer routes and 18,000 activities, available in over 185 countries.
Meanwhile Hotelbeds’ 180,000 hotel property partners worldwide benefit from gaining access to Chinese guests, many of whom are highly valued by hoteliers in Europe and North America.

Hotelbeds works closely with hoteliers around the world to source China-ready hotel product and additionally to advise hotels on how to better attract Chinese travellers, not just in terms of food and language, but also relating to payments, booking processes and technology.

Forrest Zhang, Managing Director China, Hotelbeds, said, “I am very excited to be able to confirm a dramatic shift in how people are travelling during this holiday vs. recent years. Everyone knows that travel demand surges massively during the Chinese New Year, but traditionally this holiday has been spent at home with family in China – and now we are seeing more and more Chinese people travel not just abroad, but to a more distant and wider range of destinations.

“Sourcing China-ready hotel product around the world and offering a wide range of accommodation products, plus in destination activities, has been our strategy for growth in China, which has successfully taken in not only popular international destinations but also those lesser-known destinations that Chinese travellers are now starting to explore. Together with my team, we would like to wish our customers in China a happy new year! Let’s make it another successful year together. ”

The Chinese New Year holiday, also known as Spring Festival, is a seven-day national holiday in China that takes place from Friday January 24th to Thursday January 30th. The date of the Chinese New Year varies each year, according to China’s lunar calendar, and last year started on 6th February.

Recently the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) predicted that in 2020, for the first time, more than seven million trips would be made across the border during the holiday, compared to about 6.5 million in 2018.

*All figures quoted in this press release are based on bookings made via Hotelbeds, including both the Hotelbeds wholesale and Bedsonline retail brands.