BEIJING – China’s straitened economic circumstances are being reflected in Chinese New Year travel plans, with many choosing cheaper domestic trips or nearby destinations in Asia.
Around 2.2 million to 2.6 million people are forecast to travel globally during the eight-day holiday that starts the eve of Jan 28, according to digital marketing and research firm China Trading Desk. While that is up as much as 30 per cent from 2024’s low base, it is still below pre-pandemic levels when overseas travel was at a peak at 6.3 million.
The holiday snapshots reflect a home-bias shift among Chinese tourists, who for years were the globe’s biggest spenders. Now, their travel cutbacks have businesses from airlines to retailers and hotels recalibrating.
“Chinese are being more selective about their travel,” said Mr Subramania Bhatt, chief executive of China Trading Desk. “They’re looking for value and experiences rather than just spending money. We’re not going to see the heyday of Chinese coming in, going into big luxury shops and buying loads of handbags.”
Holidaymakers who are going abroad are increasingly choosing nearby countries like Japan and South Korea, whose weakened currencies extend the buying power of the yuan. South-east Asian nations such as Malaysia and Thailand are meanwhile luring visitors with visa-free entry and lower costs.
More expensive long-haul destinations as the United States and Europe are not at the top of lists in 2025.
Ms Chen Xing, a finance worker at a state-owned asset management firm in Guangzhou, routinely used to fly to Europe for two weeks’ skiing during Chinese New Year before the pandemic.
With consistent pay raises and bonuses, she did not flinch at spending around US$10,000 (S$13,500) a trip. But over the past two years, her salary has flat-lined while her bonuses have been slashed in half.
In 2025, she waited for a last-minute deal and booked a trip to Osaka. She has budgeted just US$2,000 and chose a hotel that is only 300 yuan (S$56) a night, a far cry from the deluxe stays she treated herself to in the past.
According to online travel platform Fliggy, countries that are within a four-hour flight from major Chinese cities, like Japan, are favoured destinations as people seek more economical options.
Furthermore, nearly three out of four travellers are booking trips less than a month in advance as people hold out for last-minute offers, Mr Bhatt said.
Fliggy data show that air fares from Shanghai to South Korea’s popular Jeju island were selling for as low as 284 yuan one-way in January. Average air ticket prices from China to Hong Kong, and hotels in the financial hub, have dropped as much as 20 per cent compared with 2024’s Spring Festival period, Mr Bhatt added.
During the extended 40-day Spring Festival travel period that began Jan 14, some 90 million passenger trips are forecast to be made on both domestic and international routes, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The almost 8 per cent growth is considerably lower than the 51 per cent spike seen in 2024, the first year after China reopened following Covid-19. BLOOMBERG
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