Chinese tourists flock to Vietnam during Golden Week holiday

By Hoang Phong October 2, 2024 | 12:23 am PT

Five-star cruise ship Costa Serena carries 3,500 Chinese tourists to Ha Long in northern Vietnam on Sept. 30, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tan

Vietnam is among top Southeast Asian destinations for Chinese tourists during the Golden Week holiday from Oct. 1-7, according to booking data from travel platforms.

Chinese travelers are booking more overseas trips for China's National Day holiday, driven by low airfares, CNBC reported.

In Southeast Asia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam were among the most popular destinations for them this year, Bloomberg reported, citing data from Fliggy, a major Chinese travel booking platform.

While Vietnam has attracted many Chinese tourists in recent years due to its proximity and affordable cost, other Southeast Asian destinations are also popular thanks to recent visa-free policies.

Chinese tourists have shown rising interest in Phu Quoc, Vietnam's largest island off the southern coast, CNBC reported, citing data from Chinese online travel agency Trip.com.

The Golden Week holiday is expected to see a total of 1.94 billion journeys made, the South China Morning Post reported. The average number of daily trips is expected to reach 277 million, a slight increase of 0.7% compared to last year, and almost 20% more than in pre-Covid 2019.

Vietnam welcomed 2.4 million Chinese tourists in the first eight months of this year, making China the second-largest source of tourists after South Korea.