More Chinese are heading to Europe and other remote hotspots during Golden Week, with hundreds of millions of people on the move across the country in the most robust signs of a travel recovery since the country reopened its borders.
Bookings for overseas flights and hotels are up from last year’s holiday week, with the number of international flight bookings doubling and Europe showing some of the biggest growth, according to Qunar and Trip.com, one of the largest online travel agencies in China. According to Fliggy, the travel arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., car rental bookings abroad are up more than 150% from 2023, while cruise vacations are up sevenfold.
Asian destinations, from Japan to Malaysia, are favored during the week-long holiday starting October 1, while some of the fastest growing bookings are to long-haul destinations including Belgium, Croatia, the Nordics and the United Arab Emirates.
