April 29 - May 3 Labor Day Golden Holiday
3rd Most Popular Travel Destination for Chinese Tourists After Hong Kong and Bangkok
During the upcoming Chinese Labor Day golden holiday (April 29 to May 3), a large number of Chinese tourists are expected to flock to Seoul.
On the 17th (local time), according to 'Yangguangmang,' an internet media outlet of China Central People's Radio, Seoul ranked third among overseas travel destinations most frequently visited by residents of mainland China during the Labor Day holiday period.
The media revealed the top 10 travel destinations outside mainland China during the Labor Day holiday based on statistics compiled by 'FlightAi,' a market research platform under the Chinese travel agency Ctrip, which aggregated reservation data up to the 14th.
Seoul was ranked fourth after Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Singapore; excluding Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, Seoul ranks third among foreign cities. It surpassed well-known Asian travel destinations such as Phuket, Taipei, Macao, Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, and Osaka.
Earlier, China excluded South Korea from the list of 60 countries allowed for outbound group tours twice in February and March. Additionally, earlier this year, there was a so-called 'visa restriction' dispute related to strengthened quarantine measures between Korea and China. Nevertheless, this survey suggests that demand for travel to Korea among Chinese remains at a certain level.
Meanwhile, travel demand among Chinese is rapidly increasing during the five-day Labor Day golden holiday. It is evaluated that Chinese people, whose travel freedom was greatly restricted by the 'Zero COVID' policy over the past three years, are engaging in so-called 'revenge tourism.'
According to Ctrip, the number of overseas travel bookings by Chinese during the Labor Day holiday increased 18 times compared to the same period last year. Trip.com stated, "Since the authorities allowed overseas group tours in February, overseas travel bookings have increased more than 18 times compared to the same period last year, and international flight ticket searches during the Labor Day holiday period have also increased ninefold."
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