As the sun slowly starts to come out, the Spring season is predicted to see a surge in Chinese tourism. For brands and destinations, Spring represents a critical window to catch the attention of Chinese travellers and influence bookings, marked as it is, by the Chinese New Year Holiday or Spring Festival.
Bring on Spring!
This year’s Chinese New Year Holiday, spanning 15 – 23 February, sees a strong start to the Spring season with a predicted record high of 9.5 billion inter-regional trips. Railway passenger volumes are projected to reach 540 million and civil aviation passenger volumes are projected to reach 95 million, both surpassing previous levels. The lantern festival, which marks the end of the Chinese New Year, will additionally influence travel trends and numbers as final celebrations are made and families travel back home in the world’s largest annual human migration pattern.
Read more about Guanxi’s insights into the Chinese New Year 2026 here.
Lifestyle-Led Travel
Already we are already seeing a changes in the types and volume of bookings for the Spring season, according to a market insight report by Tuniu which found that 35% of travellers opted for earlier departure dates around CNY than usual. This reflects a stronger desire for value and to secure preferred routes, accommodation and experiences travelling earlier outside the peak periods of travel. High-value consumer segments, which drive China’s outbound travel momentum, tend to see travelling as a recurring lifestyle choice instead of an occasional treat, favouring multiple international trips per year.
For destinations and travel brands, this presents an opportunity to engage with Chinese travel audiences earlier on in the decision-making process, such as promotion of destinations and attractions via inspiration-led content on popular social media platforms like RedNote. This way, your brand can influence choices before travellers finalise their itineraries.
Independent vs Family Travel
Independent travelling is also seeing a rise in popularity this Spring. For overseas, short-haul destinations, over 50% travelled as Free Independent Travellers (FIT) and 85% selected self-drive as their preferred travelling method. However, group bookings have continued to show strong growth, with 34% choosing to travel with both their parents and children. Generations post 80s and 90s are the main force driving Spring bookings, with a combined proportion of 64% making them a main consumer audience. They are increasingly seen to be planning and decision making for family holidays, with their preferences being influential on the development of market products. Read about some of the most important factors shaping the travel decisions of Chinese families here.
Private, quality experiences on the rise
Bookings for private tours have demonstrated sustained growth for 2026, and high-quality, pure sightseeing holiday packages made up for an impressive 71% of the top 100 best-selling holiday products, reflecting a strong consumer desire for immersive and exclusive experiences. These long-distance, in-depth tour and exploration products are popular for multiple-country tours in South America, polar cruises and the ‘four island trip’ which visits Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Réunion. These particular products and locations in combination attract higher proportions of the elderly, or ‘silver-hair’, population.
Visa-free entry is also significantly boosting bookings for destinations- since it was implemented by the Philippines, search interest has increased by 198%!
Activity and Sport
Activity-based trips, such as holiday packages that combine travel and sports, are also seeing new interest this Spring. According to Mafengwo’s data, the popularity of the ‘match watching + holiday’ package in Italy has soared by 170% due to the coincidence of the Milan and Cortina Winter Olympics and Spring Festival overlapping. For brands and destinations, aligning travel products with major international events is a strong method for driving demand during peak seasons.
Together, these trends demonstrate a growing confidence in the consumer market as we become more and more distant from the effects of the global pandemic. Chinese travellers are becoming more selective in their travel choices, opting for higher-quality experiences that align with their individual lifestyles and group characteristics.
Guanxi has experience in promoting destinations and attractions to the Chinese Outbound Travel market. Get in touch with us here.