By K Oanh Ha
Published Feb 5, 2025
Chinese families took road trips as train travel surged
Overseas travelers preferred closer Asian destinations
Still, between 2.2 million and 2.6 million Chinese were forecast to travel by air during the holiday, according to digital marketing and research firm China Trading Desk. While that’s up as much as 30% from last year’s low base, it’s still below pre-pandemic levels when overseas travel was at its peak.
But not everyone wanted to stay at home. Chinese residents made 7.7 million cross-border trips during the holiday — a 5% increase from a year ago, according to government data. While that’s higher than the pre-pandemic level of 7.2 million, it also includes trips to Hong Kong and Macau, and the holiday this year is a day longer than last year.
For those that went abroad, Asian countries such as Japan, Thailand and South Korea were the preferred destinations, data from online agencies show. Bookings to Japan doubled from last year, while long-haul trips to the US, Italy and France also grew 50% or more, according to a Ctrip report. Chinese tourists were the largest group of visitors to Thailand during the holiday, according to the country’s tourism ministry.
Meanwhile, the number of trips made by foreigners across the Chinese border surged 23% to 958,000 during the holiday from a year ago, according to the immigration authority.
Comments