Traveller flows in China increase by 8pc during Spring Festival
Traveller flows in China during the 2025 Spring Festival period increased by eight percent compared with the same time last year, according to industry data cited by China Central Television (CCTV), reported WAM.
The Spring Festival is the largest annual celebration in China, during which hundreds of millions of people travel back to their home towns or visit popular scenic destinations to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
This year's Spring Festival marks the first since Unesco added it to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. As a result, interest in exploring intangible cultural heritage has surged, with travellers seeking to experience traditional festival customs increasing 12 percent compared with last year.
Ice and snow destinations has once again drawn a significant number of visitors this Spring Festival. The "Ice City" Harbin in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, known for its stunning ice sculptures and deep-rooted winter sports culture, remains a favored holiday destination, with the tourist numbers increasing by six percent year on year.
Foreign visitors have also embraced the ice and snow fun, with visits to Harbin rising by 42 percent.
The most popular ski regions in China are the northern provinces, including Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei and Xinjiang, as well as Beijing.
"The popularity of ice and snow tourism continues to rise, with tourist numbers increasing by 11 per cent compared with the same period last year. Ski resorts across the country remain popular, seeing an increase of over 46 percent in visitors compared with regular days," said Wang Xuejian, deputy general manager of big data branch under China Mobile, one of the country's leading telecommunications operators.
The Spring Festival has also seen an uptick in the number of foreign tourists arriving following China's continued relaxation of its visa policies, allowing more overseas travellers and businesspeople to enter the country visa-free.
In December, China announced an extension of its visa-free transit policy, allowing eligible international visitors from 54 countries to remain in the country for up to 240 hours with no visa required.
During the holiday, the number of inbound tourists increased by 10 per cent compared with the same period last year. The countries with the largest increase in tourist sources were South Korea, Indonesia and France, which saw rises of 79 per cent, 46 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively.
While European and American tourists prefer megacities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, visitors from Southeast Asia are more interested in exploring southern destinations, such as Chengdu, Chongqing and Zhoushan.
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