China's New Year holiday travel boom set to spur consumption growth

The three-day New Year's holiday in China is just around the corner, and travel excitement is heating up.

Residents are eager to celebrate and explore, as evidenced by a whopping 500 percent year-on-year increase in tourism bookings for the holiday (including accommodation, tickets, and transportation), according to Meituan and Dianping data.

Young travelers, in particular, are driving this surge, seeking personalized and diverse experiences. They're creating New Year's Eve rituals, from indulging in hot springs and skiing to watching sunrises, fireworks and concerts. South-North Crossing, a trend where travelers go from southern cities to the north or vice versa, is particularly popular during this holiday period.

The reopening of outbound travel is adding further fuel to the fire. Countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka are welcoming Chinese tourists with open arms, implementing visa-free policies and making island getaways more accessible.

China's unilateral visa-free policy implemented from December for six countries – France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia – is fostering a rise in inbound travel.

The National Immigration Administration anticipates a peak in both outbound and inbound travel during the New Year holiday period, thanks to recovering international flight routes and the new visa-free policies. It predicts a daily average of 1.56 million cross-border trips will take place, a fivefold increase compared to the same period a year earlier and 90 percent of the 2019 level.