Many Chinese choosing S-E Asia over Japan for Chinese New Year holiday as bilateral spat hits flights
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For Chinese travellers, Thailand has replaced Japan (above) as the top travel destination this coming Chinese New Year holiday.
PHOTO: AFP
- High flight prices, especially to Japan (around 9,500 yuan), are causing Chinese tourists to choose cheaper South-east Asian destinations like Bangkok (3,200 yuan).
- Geopolitical tensions between China and Japan, leading to cancelled flights and security warnings, contribute to the shift away from Japan as a travel destination.
- Thailand and Singapore are becoming popular alternatives, with increased inbound travel to China from countries like South Korea also noted.
AI generated
CHONGQING – When Ms Cherry Li, 34, was planning for a holiday with her friends for the upcoming Chinese New Year break, she had at first wanted to go to Tokyo from Chongqing in south-western China, where her family lives.
But expensive ticket prices made her change her mind, and she arranged instead to meet her friends in Bangkok on Feb 19, the third day of the Spring Festival, as the Chinese call the Chinese New Year.
Round-trip tickets from Chongqing to Tokyo cost 9,500 yuan (S$1,740), much more than the 3,200 yuan she eventually paid for her flights to and from the Thai capital.
“The price to Japan was just too much for a short girls’ weekend over the Spring Festival break,” said Ms Li, a Shanghai-based office worker.
She and her three girlfriends will be spending the first two days of the festival with family before their trip to Bangkok.
Chinese travellers over the upcoming festival break like Ms Li told The Straits Times that while geopolitics played a role in their overseas travel decisions, they were mostly put off by the lack of flights to Japan and the expensive plane tickets.
Many are instead choosing to travel to South-east Asian countries, given the cheaper air tickets, with Thailand replacing Japan as the top travel destination this coming holiday.
Ties between Japan and China hit a low
Beijing considers Taiwan – which is self-governing – a part of China and has not renounced the use of force to reclaim the island.
Following Ms Takaichi’s remarks, Beijing launched retaliatory measures
The Chinese authorities warned the Chinese public as recently as Jan 26 of the dangers of visiting Japan, citing “the deteriorating public security (there), a surge in criminal cases targeting Chinese nationals and a spate of consecutive earthquakes”.
“Chinese nationals in Japan face serious security threats,” the travel advisory from China’s Foreign Ministry said.
Media reports in January noted that South Korea overtook Japan as the most preferred destination of the Chinese for the New Year holiday break from Jan 1 to 3.
Local media reported in January that Thailand has supplanted Japan as the top travel destination for the Chinese during the upcoming holiday – a record nine-day break that starts on Feb 15 – citing data from Chinese travel platforms.
A finance executive, 38, who gave his name only as Mr Shi, said he and a friend will be travelling to Singapore from Chengdu on Feb 20, the fourth day of the festival, and will be staying there over the weekend.
He declined to give his full name as he works for a state-owned enterprise and did not want to appear to be going against China’s travel guidelines.
“The ticket prices are about 6,000 yuan, which is much more expensive than off-peak periods, but it is so rare that we get such a long break, so I felt the need to splurge for an overseas trip.”
He had originally intended to go to Japan “to buy figurines of anime characters, facial products and snacks”, he said. But prices of tickets to Tokyo are about double those to Singapore and, importantly, there are no direct flights from Chengdu to Tokyo. He would need to transit in Shanghai and “that’s a waste of time”.
While ticket prices to Osaka are about the same as those to Singapore, there are again no direct flights.
Flights from Chengdu, the capital of south-western Sichuan province, to Osaka were cancelled after Ms Takaichi’s comments. There were no direct flights to Tokyo even before the spat.
Mr Shi said “geopolitics didn’t factor very much in (his) decision to not go to Japan in the end, because ties between China and Japan have always been lukewarm at best, given our history”.
Japan invaded parts of China during World War II.
Latest data from the Singapore Tourism Board showed that China was Singapore’s top source of foreign visitors in 2025 with 3.1 million arrivals.
Ms Wu Meiyue, 30, from Chongqing said she chose not to go to Japan because of “the high ticket prices and the possible dangers there”.
“I decided that I didn’t want to court trouble, given all the back and forth between China and Japan, and it is so expensive to go.”
She had toyed with the idea of going to Japan because she had never been there and had always been curious about it, having grown up watching a lot of Japanese animation and movies. She has yet to decide whether she would leave Chongqing for the upcoming break.
Ms Li said she had enjoyed her trip to Osaka in November 2025, which was why she wanted to go to Tokyo this holiday break.
She noticed that flights from Chongqing to Osaka have been cancelled recently, adding that she had paid about 2,400 yuan for her trip in November.
When asked about the popularity of Japan as a travel destination for the upcoming holiday, top Chinese travel platforms CTrip and Tongcheng Travel did not respond.
A Jan 20 Tongcheng Travel report on travel trends during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday noted that due to the record length of the break, travellers are expected to make more multiple trips this time round.
The number of Chinese travellers making at least two trips by plane is estimated to grow by 13 per cent, while travellers taking the train are expected to grow by more than 30 per cent, the report added.
Travel service provider Trip.com Group, which runs CTrip, in a statement to ST noted that more foreign tourists are choosing to travel to China to experience the Chinese New Year festival there.
“Beyond typical favourites like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, travellers are also choosing to visit Chongqing and Harbin,” said the statement.
“Notably, inbound travel to China from South Korea grew by 95 per cent year on year during the Spring Festival”, going by Trip.com Group’s own data so far, it added.
Ms Li said that while “it is a shame” that she will not be going to Japan, her top choice for the upcoming break, “things are what they are, given the geopolitics”.
Still, she added that she is “very much looking forward to Bangkok because of how Thai people are very welcoming towards the Chinese, and the food and shopping there are very good”.
“I’m excited about time off work, spending time with my friends, and authentic Thai milk tea,” she added.
Correction note: An earlier version of this report said China was Singapore’s top source of foreign visitors for the first nine months of 2025 with 3.1 million arrivals recorded. The figure should be for the full year 2025.
