Chinese Tourists Flock to South Korea for Spring Festival...Sharp Drop for Japan

Thailand Tops Flight Destinations, Followed by South Korea, Malaysia, and Japan

In the run-up to Chunjie (Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year), which is China’s biggest holiday and peak travel season, Thailand and South Korea have emerged as popular travel destinations. In contrast, the number of flights to Japan appears to have been cut in half under the impact of the so-called “Hanriling” (a policy limiting travel to Japan).

Citing data from flight information platform Flight Master (Hangban Guanjia), Chinese financial media outlet Caixin reported on the 10th that, as of the 8th, 49.36% of all outbound flight destinations were in Southeast Asia.

Haikou Meilan International Airport, Hainan Province, China. Xinhua News Agency

This was the largest share among all routes. As of the 8th, there were 157 flights, making it the top outbound destination, although this represented a 5.99% decrease from the same period a year earlier.

During the first week (February 2 to March 13) of the special Spring Festival travel season, known as Chun Yun, from February 2 to 8, the average number of daily flights on the same routes was 148. Although this did not reach the record high set in 2019, it was a 0.68% increase compared with the same period last year. Looking at the period from February 2 to 8, Thailand was followed by South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Russia, Australia, Cambodia, and Indonesia in terms of number of flights.

The average daily number of flights to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam increased the most, rising 32.43%, 31.58%, and 27.12%, respectively, compared with the same period a year earlier. In contrast, the average daily number of flights on China–Japan routes plunged by nearly 50%.

An official at a Southeast Asia outbound travel agency told Caixin that “there are so many inquiries that the customer service team cannot respond in time,” explaining that as Japan’s popularity has cooled, tourists have shifted to Southeast Asia, with demand particularly concentrated in Thailand and Malaysia. Last month, Caixin, citing Flight Master data, reported that in the first week of 2026 (December 29, 2025 to January 4, 2026), South Korea was the top outbound flight destination with 1,012 flights, followed by Thailand with 862 flights and Japan with 736 flights.

A similar trend has appeared at Chinese online travel agency Qunar. Hotel booking data showed that Asian countries with short flight times, convenient visa issuance, and high cost-effectiveness were especially popular. During this year’s Spring Festival period, the most popular destinations were Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Russia, Australia, Indonesia, and Spain, in that order. Benefiting from the long holiday and China’s visa-free policy, Uzbekistan’s tourism growth rate reached about 400%, while hotel bookings in Türkiye increased 1.5 times.

The outbound travel market during this year’s Chun Yun period has generally improved. According to air ticket booking platform Hangyue Zongheng, as of the 9th, bookings for international flights during the Spring Festival holiday exceeded 220,000 tickets, up about 8% from a year earlier. In addition, the number of passengers on domestic and international civil flights during Chun Yun surpassed 1.82 million, increasing from the same period last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.