Bookings by visitors to the UAE surged by 60 per cent, according to the travel website Trip.com.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Lunar New Year has seen a remarkable spiral in Chinese tourism. The Chinese, like many nationals from other countries, love to travel, seeking to explore new places.

The Middle East is a great magnetic hotspot.  Bookings by visitors to the UAE surged by 60 per cent, according to the travel website Trip.com. Travel between the UAE and China has become very seamless as visas are not required for citizens of both countries.

Travel to Saudi Arabia also spiralled, multiplying nine-fold since 2019, when the coronavirus pandemic struck China.

Visitor numbers and spending in destinations including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia exceeded pre-COVID levels.

Visa-free access for Chinese tourists to the Southeast Asia countries gave a solid fillip to traffic and signalled a robust revival in travel since Beijing lifted strict COVID restrictions in early 2023 that had all but shut China's borders for three years.

The increase also provides a welcome relief to countries whose tourism industries rely on the Chinese and their spending for growth.

The UAE is a huge attraction for Chinese visitors.

Bookings to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia combined jumped more than 30 per cent from Feb. 10-17 compared with 2019, according to travel website operator Trip.com, with Chinese visitors to Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and South Korea also increasing.

The holiday in 2024 lasted for eight days, one day more than the Lunar New year break in 2019.

Reflecting the boost from visa waivers, hotel bookings for Bangkok tripled over the period from Feb. 10-13 year-on-year, while those for Singapore jumped nine-fold, according to travel platform LY.com.

Spending in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia combined on the Chinese mobile payment platform Alipay increased 7.5 per cent in the period from Feb. 9-12 from 2019 levels and nearly 7-fold from last year, Alipay said.

Across the border in Hong Kong, leader John Lee said on Tuesday more than 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited the city over Lunar New Year and overall hotel occupancy rates reached 90 per cent in the first few days, providing a much-needed boost to the city's economy. Around 1,980 group tours from mainland China visited Hong Kong during the holidays, according to Reuters.

In Japan, department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings said that till Feb.14 "duty-free sales were significantly higher than the previous year, partly due to the Chinese New Year".

A shift in holiday tastes was reflected in some data as travellers sought more experience-based trips, with Alipay reporting Chinese tourists globally spent 70 per cent more on food and beverages compared with pre-COVID levels.

Trip.com said overseas car rentals on its platform jumped 53 per cent compared to 2019 and tickets for scenic experiences abroad soared more than 130 per cent.