According to Trip.com platform data, inbound travel continued to build momentum during China’s Spring Festival period. Bookings from Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, and Russia ranking among the top sources. Notably, bookings by Russian travelers surged 471% year over year, while bookings by South Korean travelers increased 95%.
Data from Fliggy also showed that over the past two weeks, Spring Festival flight bookings by international travelers rose more than 400% compared with the same period last year. Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Chengdu emerged as the most popular first-entry cities.
Qunar reported a similar trend. To date, flight bookings by foreign travelers to China during the Spring Festival have increased by nearly 30% year over year. Popular destinations include Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xiamen, Harbin, Haikou, Chongqing, and Shenyang.
The data also suggests that international travelers are not only choosing major cities, but are increasingly exploring “hidden gem” smaller destinations. During the Spring Festival, the number of foreign visitors flying to Lanzhou and Hohhot increased more than fourfold year over year, while Guilin, Jinan, Yuncheng, and Yantai more than doubled.
Trip.com analysts noted that “spending the Spring Festival in China” is becoming a new global trend. At its core is the deeper integration of cultural IP and inbound tourism: the uniqueness and immersive appeal of Spring Festival traditions are emerging as a key draw for international visitors, injecting sustained momentum into the high-quality growth of inbound tourism.
