By the end of 2025, China had 7188 registered museums, and 1.56 billion museum visitors.

ITE 2026 Opens tomorrow

More expensive than the "landers", travel products which involve visiting Antarctic interior, are priced at least US$100,000 per head. Number of these big spenders will rise to 1106 in 2026 from 551 in 2024.

Travelers who land on the Antarctic, on average, will each pay 2 to 4 times more than sightseers. Number of these “landers” will rise to 85000 in 2026 from 78,000 in 2024.

Travelers who land on the Antarctic, on average, will each pay twice or 4 times more than sightseers. Number of these “landers” will rise to 85000 in 2026 from 78,000 in 2024.

In 2025, IAATO started imposing restriction on cruises for 500 passengers or more, which mainly carry sightseers (not landing on Antarctica). As a result, total number of sightseers dropped from 43000 in 2024 to 27000 in 2026.

Since reaching the peak of 122,000 in 2024 season, number of Antarctica travelers been dropping for two consecutive years with total drop around 7%.

From the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), there were 113,5000 Antarctica travelers in the period from November 2025 to March 2026 (25-26 Season), which dropped 4.2% comparing to season in last year.

Global airlines, which continue cutting capacity in the summer, will lose 9.3 million seats in the three months from June to September.

In May this year, global airlines cut 13,000 flights and over 2 million seats, from data of Cirium, an aviation analytics.

By media report in mid-May, hotel bookings received this year by Trip.com for Japan’s Comiket (Comic Market) show in coming August up 78% over the year before.

Study by Japan Tourism Agency found percentage of foreign tourists to Japan who visited attractions related to their favorite comic rose to 7.5% in 2023 from 4.6% in 2019.

Media reported in mid-May that Trip.com saw a 20% rise in bookings for hotels within 3 km of the HKCEC during Comic Con 2026 — demonstrating the event's positive impact on Hong Kong's economy.

For Comic Con 2026 in Hong Kong to be held in HKCEC in late May, so far, Trip.com reported the event draw many fans from Chinese Mainland to SE Asia, and 80% of the tickets been sold to Gen Z and the Millennials.

As the sole overseas sale agent for Tokyo’s Anime Japan 2026 which held in late March, Trip.com sold 6.97 times more tickets to customers in 82 countries and regions, and among them China (Chinese Mainland) is the top buyer to be followed by Hong Kong.

As reported by media on May 14, latest Trip.com data indicated search volume of comic related travel in Asia grew 195% over same period last year, and Hong Kong travelers group is one of the main driving force.

During the May Day Holiday this year, some China travel portals reported booking of theme travel private tours up nearly 80%, comparing to same period last year.

Foreign arrivals to China (Chinese Mainland) under visa-free scheme totaled 8. 32 million in the first quarter of 2026, accounting for 77.9% of all foreign arrivals.

Quoting Jordan travel agent association, media reported on May 11 the Middle East Conflict caused overseas tourists to cancel their Jordan bookings. Specifically, US and UK tourists almost 100%; Asia around 80%; while Europe market dropped by 50 to 60%.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) projects China’s cruise travelers will exceed 14 million by 2035, and becomes world’s second largest cruise market after USA.

Quoting Finland tourism official, media reported in April this year Chinese tourists in Finland by room night almost doubled to nearly 240,000 since 2023; and in 2024 contributed EURO124 million to Finland’s economy.

DBS Bank (HK)’s survey in Feb and March this year interviewed 800 parents of high net worth in Hong Kong and other GBA cities, who had children 16 years old or younger and at least HK$ 1 million liquid asset. It found 91% parent will consider overseas education for children; Hong Kong parents preferring UK, Australia and New Zealand, while parents in other GBA cities favor Hong Kong and Singapore.

In 2025, arrivals from Taiwan to the Chinese Mainland grew 17.0% year to year to 3.24 million, which became Taiwan’s second largest outbound destination.

China’s GBA, which in 2024 had a combined population at 87 million with combined GDP already bigger than San Francisco Bay Areas, expecting its combined GDP in 2025 to surpass 15 trillion yuan (some US$2.15 trillion).

Held from April 15 to 19 in Guangzhou, phase 1 of the 139th Canton Trade Fair drew over 12,000 exhibitors; over 25,000 booths; and 167,000 non-mainland buyers, up 5.9% year-by-year, from 216 countries and regions.

On April 28, media reported AirAsia X, the largest budget carrier in SE Asia, will further reduce flight frequency but without any specific figure. Earlier in April, the carrier has announced raising air fare by 40% and reduce flight frequency by around 10%.

By 9 pm that day, Hong Kong residents made 413,000 departures on May 1 (Friday); and some 330,000 on May 2; and on April 3 which the first day of the five days long Ching-Ming and Easter Holidays made 710,000 departures.

With Chinese arrivals exceeding 1 million last year, Australia project Chinese arrivals will in the next 4 years of 2025 grow by an average annual rate of 7.3%.

From Umetrip, which developed by the China Civil Aviation Information Group, Chinese Mainland’s bookings of outbound air tickets for May Day Holiday by April 21 exceeded 470,000, which up slightly over same period last year.

According to China Air Transport Association, flights provided by Chinese airlines from Chinese Mainland to SE Asia during May Day Holiday have a total of 487,000 seats, up 48,000 over same period last year and 248,000 been sold by April 21. Thus, supply can fully meet demand.

Since 2024, Chinese tourists to Australia for visiting friends and relatives stayed on average of 54 days, which the longest among all Chinese tourists.

Since 2024, Chinese tourists in Australia spent 31% more on education related products / services, to be followed by their spending on holiday and travel by 22%.

In the first 9 months of 2025, Chinese tourists spent (Australian dollar) AUD 12.3 billion, up 29%; and China thus becomes Australia’s largest contributor of tourist spending.

In 2025, arrivals from China to Australia exceeded 1 million, up 17% over 2024; and China became Australia’s second largest source market.

Shanghai theme park market is projected to breach a RMB 110 billion mark by 2028.

Quoting Grand View Research, an international consultancy firm, media reported in March theme park market in Asia Pacific will have a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% from 2026 to 2033, while revenue will grow to US$ 66.81 billion in 2033.

On April 13, media reported total number of transactions by holders of HSBC credit card in Chinese Mainland for medical services there doubled in 2025.

On April 8, media reported total amount of payments by Hong Kong users of “WeChat Pay HK” during the Easter Holiday to private hospital, clinic and medical organization in Chinese Mainland increased year-on-year by over 90%.

On April 8, media reported total amount of payments by Hong Kong users of “WeChat Pay HK” during the Easter Holiday for transport in Chinese Mainland grew year-on-year by over 50%.

In the first four days of the Ching-Ming and Easter Holidays this year, Hong Kong users of WeChat Pay HK doubled their offline retail spending in the mainland when comparing to same period last year, which also a historical record.

In Chinese Mainland, family travel bookings for the 3 days Ching-Ming Festival Holiday in April accounted for 37% by value of all travel bookings there for that period.

Quoting official data from China, media reported on April 8 domestic travelers in the Ching-Ming Festival Holiday this month (total 3 days) in the Chinese Mainland totaled 135 million, up 6.8% and their spending totaled RMB 61.4 billion, up 6.6%.

From TV news on April 7 at 8.00pm, Hong Kong residents made some 2.1 million departures which roughly 1/3 of the city’s population during the Ching-Ming and Easter Holidays this year.

In 2025, Dubai welcomed around 860,000 overnight Chinese tourists.

Quoting a recent survey on China travel agents, an American travel media reported in Feb this year the three most important factors affecting choice of destination by Chinese outbound travelers in 2026 are respectively Safety which picked by 80% respondents, visa free or site visa which picked by half respondents came second, to be followed by direct flight.

Above China outbound survey also found over half of respondents prefer traveling as Free Independent Travelers (FIT); and by 71% young travelers aged between 18 and 24.

A digital marketing company "Dragon Trail International" held a survey in September 2025 on Chinese outbound travelers found among those planning to travel abroad during the National Day Golden Week in October 2025, 17% chose private customized tours.

By 2035, China will have over 400 million citizens aged 60 or above, and size of its silver hair market reach RMB 30 trillion which around 10% of GDP.

By the end of 2025, China had 320 million citizens aged 60 or above, and size of its silver hair market close to 10 trillion yuan which about 6% of the country’s GDP.

Quoting Tourism Economics of UK, media reported on March 19 even if the current Middle East Conflict ends within weeks, international tourist arrivals to the region in 2026 will drop by around 11%, which means 23 million arrivals fewer than previous projections, along with an estimated loss of US$34 billion in tourism revenue.

Quoting Flight Steward DAST, media reported on March 19: international flights between China and the Middle East had recovered to over 40 flights per day by Mar 15, yet the cancellation rate still stood at 59.2%.

Quoting Tourism Economics, a UK trade magazine, media reported on March 19 if the current Middle East conflict lasts for around 2 months, arrivals of international tourist arrivals to the region in 2026 will drop by 27% or 38 million while tourism income would fall by approximately US$ 56 billion compared to previous projections.

On average, Chinese tourists spend of 1,073 EUR (appx RMB 8,200) per person in Finland, with an average daily spending of about 160 EUR (Appx RMB 1,200) ranking them top among all foreign arrivals to Finland.

Arrivals from China to Finland, which projected to rise at growth rate far higher than Finland’s other major source markets, will rise by nearly 5 times by 2034.

Arrivals from China to Finland in the first 9 months of 2025 totaled around 76,000, which up 13%; and China is Finland’s third largest source market.

A company specializing in cruise tourism in Greenland reported its revenue for the first 4 weeks of 2026 increased by 94% compared to the last 4 weeks of 2025. The Greenlandic government targets tourism will contribute 40% of its foreign earnings by 2035.

Foreign arrivals to Greenland, which has a population of around 57,000, reached 120,000 in 2025. A Greenland operator reported it received 60% more booking from mid-2025 to January 2026.

From Qichacha (QCC), an Enterprise Credit Information Platform, China had some 383,000 guesthouse / homestay enterprises by the end of 2025, of which over 86000 newly registered in 2025.

From Travel Review, an UK magazine, globally, the market of movie tourism / filming location tour reached US$ 66 billion in 2025, and expect to rise continuously to US$ 145 billion in 2035.

In 2025, arrivals from China to Thailand dropped 33.6% to 4.47 million.

Quoting a recent projection from HSBC, media reported China outbound market will have a size of US$386 billion by 2033.

Media reported in January, Chinese Mainland estimated to take 155 million departures in 2025, and projected to take 165 million to 175 million departures in 2026.

From Airport Council International (ACI), Chinese travelers buy various types of products in airports. Specifically, 27% said confectionary goods is their top choice, 17% prefer local specialties, and 12% buy luxury products.

From China media, following Chinese airlines resuming flights to Middle East. Hainan Airlines: - Two round-trip flights between Haikou and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 2 and 4 Air China: - One daily round-trip flight on March 5, 6 and 7 between Beijing and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - One daily round-trip flight on March 6, 7 and 8 between Beijing and Dubai, UAE China Eastern: - One round-trip flight on March 5 between Daxing, Beijing and Muscat, Oman China Southern: - One round-trip flight on March 6 between Guangzhou and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Research by Airport Council International (ACI) covers 36 major airports in 21 Asia Pacific and Middle-East countries. From ACI, Chinese travelers ranked top by per capita spending among all nationalities, and their spending on luxury products about double the average of the region.

From multiple online travel platforms, Chinese tourist bookings for Customized Overseas Travel during the Spring Festival Holiday this year grew 18%, while visa application, flight search, hotel and package tour booking all surpass 2025 level.

Qunar.com data show sale of air ticket from China to Italy during the Winter Olympic this year by quantity nearly doubled last year.

From Flight Manager, Chinese airlines operated 8829 international departing passenger flights during the Spring Festival Holiday this year, which by daily average recovered to around 92.3% level in 2019.

Chinese arrivals in 2025, who is the largest spender, accounted for 21.2% of all Japan’s foreign tourists’ spending. Spending by foreign arrivals to Japan in the fourth quarter of 2025 dropped for the first time in 4 years by 2.8% to US$ 4.56 billion.

China Trading Desk, a Singaporean tourism marketing firm, estimated arrivals of Chinese tourists to Japan in Spring Festival (Feb 15 – 23) this year total around 130,000 which a significant drop from last year’s figure of 260,000.

From JNTO statistics, arrivals from Chinese Mainland in January 2026 dropped 60.7% against same period in 2025; which also larger than the 45.3% drop in December 2025. Despite increases from other markets like South Korea and USA, total foreign arrivals to Japan in January 2026 dropped 4.9%.

In the first half of 2025, on average, overnight Chinese Mainland tourists spent HK$5000 per person per trip while non-overnight spent HK$1200 in Hong Kong. In 2025, arrivals from Chinese Mainland to Hong Kong totaled around 37.83 million.

From Feb 14 to 21, which the first 8 days of the Chinese New Year holiday this year, Hong Kong residents made around 3 million departures which up 22% over same period last year. Thus, reflect the trend of Hong Kong residents taking outbound trip during holiday still on the rise.

Chinese tourist arrivals to the Maldives totaled 329,428 in 2025, up 25.2% from 260,000 in 2024, and China remained the Maldives' top source market.

By the end of 2025, some 262,000 Chinese tourists visited Philippines, who around 15% of 2019.

Spending of Chinese tourists in UK, which in 2024 totaled £730 million (some RMB 7 billion) or £1563 (some RMB 15k) per person per trip, is projected to rise by an annual average rate of 20% till 2030.

On outbound car rental during the Spring Festival Holiday this year, ZUZUCHE, a car rental portal in China, reported bookings it received 17 days before the Holiday up 50% over last year. In 2025, over 38,000 Chinese tourist visited South Africa.

Arrivals from China to UK is projected to reach 641,000 in 2026, which up 31% over the projected total of 2025. Some 463,000 Chinese tourists visited UK in 2024.

In 2025, arrivals from China to Japan totaled 9.10 million, up 30.3%, but tax free shopping by Chinese tourist dropped some 40% in last December and 12.7% for the whole year of 2025.

From China's Ministry of Culture & Tourism, in 2025, domestic travelers in Chinese Mainland totaled 6.522 billion, up 16.2%, and they spent RMB 6.30 trillion, up 9.5%.

Arrivals from China to Spain in the first 8 months of 2025 already exceeded 0.5 million, and their spending averaged EURO 2600 per person.

Arrivals from China to Malaysia in the first 8 months of 2025 totaled 3.28 million which about the total for whole year of 2024. The total for 2025 projected to rise above 5 million.

Chinese Mainland to South Korea in the first 11 months of 2025 totaled 5.09 million, up 18.4%, accounting for 29.2% of all foreign inbound into South Korea in the same period.

China Trading Desk, a digital marketing firm, project some 230,000 to 250,000 tourists from Chinese Mainland will visit South Korea in the Spring Festival Holiday this year, maximally up 52% over same period last year.

2.26 million overnight Chinese tourists visited Singapore in the first 11 months of 2025, which dropped 2.3% over last year.

Arrivals from China to Vietnam in 2025 totaled 5.30 million, up 41%, and accounting for 25% of all foreign inbound into the country.

Quoting Trip.com, media reported on Jan 26 the coming long Spring Festival Holiday boost outbound travel particularly for the long hauls. Destinations such as Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, New Zealand, USA and Indonesia are popular.

Arrivals from China to Vietnam in 2025 totaled 5.30 million, up 41.3%, and accounted for 25% of all foreign inbound into the country.

Quoting Flight Master on Jan 23, media reported of China’s international flights during the China’s Spring Festival travel rush in 2026, which run from Feb 2 to Mar 13 and total 40 days, at this moment some 50% concentrate on SE Asia.

In Ski Year 24/25, some 26.05 million skiers visited China’s ski resorts, up 12.90%; and on average each skier been in ski resorts 1.92 times.

In Ski Year 24/25 which run from May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025, there were 748 operating ski resorts in China, up 4%; of which 66 indoor and 682 outdoor.

Arrivals from China to Japan totaled 0.56 million in November 2025, up 2.9%; and 8.77 million in the first 11 months of 2025, up 37.5%; but dropped by some 45% in December.

Arrivals from China to South Korea in the first 10 months of 2025 totaled 4.70 million, which already surpassed the total in 2024.

From Airport Authority, Hong Kong International Airport in 2025 handled 61 million passengers, up 15%; and some 394,700 flights, up 8.7% over 2024.

Overnight Chinese tourists to Switzerland during the 24 / 25 winter season stayed for some 0.34 million room-night, which projected to rise by 5% in the 25 / 26 season.

In the first 10 months of 2025, Chinese tourists stayed in Switzerland for around 1.07 million room-night, which up 5.3% over 2024 and back to around 64.1% of 2019.

On Jan 6, media reported for international flights by Chinese airlines in 2025 already back to over 90% pre-pandemic 2019 level, and carried 21.6% more passengers than the year before.

Trip.com data show that in the first 3 quarters of 2025, China’s domestic travelers totaled 5.0 billion, up 18%; and spending totaled RMB 4.85 trillion, up 11.5%.

Trip.com data show younger generations dominated China’s domestic travelers during the 2026 New Year’s Day Holiday. Specifically, Gen Z / Post-00s and Post-90s respectively account for 39% and 33%.

In the 2026 New Year’s Day Holiday which last for three days, China’s domestic travelers totaled 142 million who spent RMB 84.79 billion on traveling.

Hong Kong residents made 106.1 million departures in the first 11 months of 2025, which surpassed the total of 2024 by 1.33% and up 12.4% over same period last year.

Arrivals from Hong Kong to Japan in 2025 totaled 0.21 million in the month of November, and 2.23 million in the first 11 months.

Hong Kong Research Association survey found 34% respondents will take outbound holiday during Christmas, which up 9%; while those who will stay in the city down 7% to 54%.

Between Dec 8 and Dec 18, 2025 Hong Kong Research Association interviewed 1070 Hong Kong citizens aged 18 or above, and found 24% residents (up 2%) will increase and 30% (down 3%) will cut back on spending during Christmas.

In 2024, China (Mainland) had 64,616 travel agents, up 14.8% over 2023, which generated income totaling RMB565.7 billion and profit totaling RMB3.78 billion.

Facing uncertainties, survey found only 25% Hong Kong consumers will spend more on Eat-out, travel and entertainment in the X’mas shopping season; while 41% will tighten spending.

However, the Hong Kong Consumer survey also found 61% respondents concern about price hikes of daily necessities, and 60% concern about employment prospect. They can affect family finance in the coming 6 months.