DidaTravel Reveals Key Lunar New Year Travel Trends
DidaTravel's report unveils a 48% surge in outbound hotel bookings during Lunar New Year celebrations, highlighting top international destinations.
DidaTravel, a global travel distribution company, published a report on the key travel trends for the Lunar New Year on January 22, 2025.
This year’s Lunar New Year festivities will last eight days, from January 28 to February 4.
According to DidaTravel’s booking data, there was a 48% increase in total outbound hotel bookings during the Chinese New Year compared to 2024.
Preferred Destinations
For outbound mainland Chinese travelers, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong SAR, USA, Australia, Iceland, and Spain topped the list of destinations.
Japan has reported a tripling of hotel bookings by Chinese travelers, while bookings to the USA more than doubled year-on-year. Short-haul Asian destinations such as Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, and long-haul options like Italy, New Zealand, France, UK, Finland, and Switzerland also remain popular, with Norway entering the top 20 for the first time.
Booking Trends
The average daily rate (ADR) for hotels worldwide saw a near 10% year-on-year increase during this holiday. However, the percentage of five-star hotel bookings dropped from 32.2% to 26.5%, while three- to four-star hotel bookings grew noticeably.
The average length of stay for Chinese travelers remained constant at 3 days. There was a trend towards earlier planning, with booking windows extending from 45 to 54 days.
Snow Xiao stated: “We are excited to see new popular destinations for Chinese travelers and their increasing willingness to explore long-haul destinations. The growth in inbound travel to China is also encouraging. The longer advance booking window indicates that travelers are planning and booking earlier, which positions us well to adjust and take advantage of these trends through targeted marketing strategies and improving our portfolio.”
Inbound travel bookings to mainland China during the Chinese New Year also experienced double-digit growth year-on-year, particularly from travelers from South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, USA, Australia, Germany, and the UK.
