Thailand sees 44.3% jump in spending for inbound Chinese New Year (CNY) bookings

Trip.com Group, a prominent global travel service provider, released data showing that Thailand is projected to experience a 44.3% rise in total spending for inbound bookings during this year’s Chinese New Year (CNY) compared to the CNY period in 2023.

BANGKOK, 8 February 2024 – Data from leading global travel service provider Trip.com Group has revealed that Thailand will see an increase of 44.3% in total trip expenditure for inbound bookings when comparing this year’s Chinese New Year (CNY) festive period with 2023’s CNY period, with expenditure for outbound travellers increasing by 70.8%.

Asian tourists making longer-haul trips

The increase in spending may be attributed to Southeast Asian tourists taking longer trips, traveling beyond Southeast Asia for the 2024 Chinese New Year period. In the previous year, 72% of Chinese New Year travel was within Southeast Asia, but now just over half (50.2%) of travelers are visiting destinations further away.

Countries in Southeast Asia that observe public holidays for Chinese New Year, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, and Brunei, experience a higher volume of travel during the week of CNY compared to countries that do not have CNY public holidays, like Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

In the week of CNY, countries with CNY public holidays make up 69.1% of all SEA bookings, versus 59% of all SEA bookings for the week before CNY.

Increasing length of booking windows, and popularity of theme parks

Another two trends that cut across markets are the lengthening of booking windows, and the popularity of theme parks. Travellers are now planning their trips further in advance, with the booking window for trips originating from Thailand more than quadrupling – from nine days to 40 days – this CNY compared to last year. This was similar to Malaysia, where the booking window surged from 12 days to 51 days, with Singapore seeing an increase of two and a half times – from 18 days to 46 days.

Meanwhile, theme parks rule the roost for most popular attractions for tourists from Southeast Asia. Hong Kong Disneyland is the top choice for travellers from Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, with Universal Studios Japan; Tokyo Disneyland; Universal Studios Singapore; and Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter making up the rest of Thai travellers’ top five overseas attractions.