According to singapore's asian tourism week, the chinese exit tourism market is at a mature stage and, for the global tourism industry, chinese travellers' exit demand is reshaping the pattern of world tourism development。
From 15 to 23 february this year, china's national immigration administration predicts that more than 2. 05 million arrivals and departures will take place on a daily basis, an increase of 14. 1 per cent over the same period last year。
The report mentions that china's spring festival has traditionally focused on family reunification, family feasts and socialization of friends and relatives, but the need for ever-increasing numbers of “80s and 90s” groups in china to celebrate reunification is no longer limited to their home areas; rather, such reunification ceremonies may occur on the beach in bali, in camel riding in the middle east or during long-distance trips to europe. This shift reflects the change in consumption in china's tourism market — the increase in disposable income for the population, the decline in household size, the increase in the spread of passports and the desire for experience tourism。
It was reported that the holiday atmosphere, which had been rooted in the homeland of chinese travellers, was now portable. For tourist destinations around the world, such changes must be valued and positively received。
According to the british tourism review, china has experienced a significant increase in expatriate tourism since 2026, a trend that stems from a continuing shift in china's economy towards a good development and a young tourist industry; in 2025, chinese disposable income reached rmb 43377, an increase of 5 per cent, which provides a solid basis for china's rapid development in its outbound travel。
In addition, the increase in visa options is an important factor. Latin american countries, such as south-east asian countries, some european countries and brazil, have subsequently exchanged visa exemptions or visa facilitation measures with china, thus making travel abroad easier for chinese tourists。
The report cites a tourism company's forecast that china's out-of-country market growth will exceed 20 per cent in 2026. Countries in south-east asia, such as thailand, viet nam, malaysia and singapore, remain popular with chinese tourists. South korea, australia and new zealand are equally favoured by chinese travellers for proximity and visa facilities. At the same time, a number of countries in south america have shown great attraction to chinese tourists and will outpace europe and north america in pursuing new tourism experiences。
Data from several online tourism platforms available to the watchers network show that during the spring season, overseas free destinations and deep tours were admired by chinese tourists, with the remaining heat expected to continue until the new year's eve. At the same time, there has been an increase of 18 per cent over the same period last year, while visa applications, flight searches, hotel reservations and group reservations have exceeded the same level in 2025。
During spring holidays, travel on short lines was free and followed by fire. Among the popular destinations, free-of-signature tours for maldives, malaysia, thailand and singapore, as well as long-line deep trips for france, italy, switzerland, australia, egypt, germany, new zealand and the united arab emirates, are popular for cattle users。
In addition, destinations such as brunei, kazakhstan, uzbekistan, fiji, the netherlands, greece, belgium, georgia, azerbaijan and armenia showed significant increases in excursions。
According to travel data, from 15 to 23 february, chinese tourists from the platform flew to nearly 1,000 cities around the world. Most of the most popular destinations are in asia, where flight distances, visa-friendly and temperature-appropriate. Hotmen cities include bangkok, thailand; kuala lumpur, malaysia; singapore; seoul, korea; phuket, thailand; ho chi minh city, viet nam; bali, indonesia; sydney, australia; chiang mai, thailand, etc。
During the spring festival, the number of air tickets to brazil for “free new friends” increased 1. 9 times over the same period, ranking fifth in the fastest growing countries, after kazakhstan, uzbekistan, oman and south africa; the number of air tickets to turkey increased one times over the same period。
Of concern is the organization of the 2026 winter olympics, which led chinese travellers to italy to watch the games and the heat of tourism rises. Data on where to travel show that the number of air tickets destined for italy from 14 to 15 february increased by 64 per cent from the previous two days; during the winter oscillation period, domestic international air tickets to italy increased almost twice over last year. The most popular destinations are milan, rome, venice, florence and naples. From the point of view of self-drive heat, italy is also a country that rents cars during spring seasons, and the order volume doubles that of last year。
According to the data provided by the flight controllers to the watcher network, during the spring holidays, the civilian international passenger flight, 8829, was restored to 92. 3 per cent of spring 2019. In addition to 73 countries that operate, 89. 9 per cent of the total number of international flights is accounted for by top20 countries, with the region of departure mainly concentrated in east and south-east asia, with thailand, south korea and malaysia ranked among the top three countries with a recovery rate of 96. 5 per cent to the republic of korea; malaysia, singapore, viet nam, russia, australia, the united arab emirates, laos, the united kingdom, italy, kazakhstan, new zealand and qatar, among others, have achieved a recovery rate of over 100 per cent。
Consumption outside china continues to increase with the continuing fire in the outbound market. According to the south china morning post in hong kong, china, chinese tourists outperformed tourists from other asian countries in the form of gifts, food and luxury items in commercial consumption at asian airports。
An earlier study published by the international airports association (aci) states that chinese passengers have been a key force in the recovery of the retail trade at asian airports, where consumption of luxury goods is twice the regional average。
The study covered 36 major airports in 21 countries in asia and the pacific and the middle east, with data from feedback from retailers and passengers at those airports. In addition, chinese tourists have the most diverse types of shopping, rather than being over-focused in a single category. Some 27 per cent of tourists indicated that candy was the “first option category”, 17 per cent chose to buy local specialty and 12 per cent bought luxury goods。
According to baronch, director-general of aci asia-pacific and middle east chapters, chinese tourists “per capita consumption is first among all nationalities, a trend that highlights the resilience of china's exit markets。
According to a report by hsbc bank, the size of the chinese outbound market is expected to increase to $38. 6 billion by 2033. The growing purchasing power of chinese travellers has reshaped the global pattern of tourism consumption, and their demand for consumption has shifted from mere commodity availability to a greater focus on commodity quality and from daily necessities to lifestyle upgrading。
The brazilian economist maria stated that china, which has been known for its manufacturing capacity, is now becoming a high-end tourism consumer market, whose influence has begun to become global, and that “destination destinations and enterprises must look into these changes and provide high-quality, sustainable and culturally rich products to find real opportunities in this changing market”
