Staff members welcome Chinese tourists at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand, Sept. 25, 2023. Thailand extended a warm welcome to the first batch of visa-exempt flights from China on Monday, marking the launch of the nation's fresh initiative to reinvigorate its Chinese tourist market. (Photo: Xinhua)

Many Chinese travelers still prefer Southeast Asian countries as their top overseas destinations for the upcoming Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, with Maldives, Singapore and Thailand topping the top 10 list, according to a Global Times online poll. Notably, Japan's ranking dropped and some traditional popular destinations such as Australia and South Korea didn't make the top 10.

Behind the shifts in Chinese travelers' preference for overseas destinations are changes in visa policies in some countries and a friendly environment for Chinese tourists, experts said. Meanwhile, reports of unfriendly or discriminatory treatment of Chinese tourists have also contributed to the fall of some traditional top destinations in the rankings.

According to the Global Times' online poll with nearly 25,000 responses, this year's top 10 overseas destinations are the Maldives, Singapore, Thailand, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, Switzerland, France and Italy. This is the second such poll launched by the Global Times.

"The top five countries are all countries surrounding China and which all warmly embrace Chinese tourists. Traveling abroad is like paying a visit to a neighbor. One does not only experience the beautiful scenery and customs, but also comprehensively considers the friendliness of the destination," Zhong Hui, a tourism industry expert, told the Global Times on Saturday.

Maldives has topped the list for a second consecutive year. Singapore rose two places to become the second-most popular destination and surpassed Japan, which dropped to fifth place. Thailand remained the third most popular destination for two straight years.

Zeng Bowei, a professor at Tourism College of Beijing Union University, said that in addition to their long-standing popularity among Chinese travelers as top gateway destinations during the winter season, the top-ranked countries also offer Chinese tourists friendly visa policies.  

"The visa-free policies have further stimulated outbound travel consumption and once again offered a boost to the tourism market in Thailand and even Southeast Asia," Zeng told the Global Times. 

China has recently announced mutual visa exemptions with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Meanwhile, the Maldives also offers very convenient visa applications for Chinese tourists who can apply for visas upon arrival in the country. 

Highlighting the major boost from visa-free policies to Chinese outbound tourism, within an hour after the announcement of visa exemptions between China and Singapore, searches for air tickets to Singapore on Alibaba-owned travel platform Fliggy surged by 15 times, and major airlines announced increased flights. 

However, even as some countries enjoy increased popularity, others are falling out of love with Chinese tourists due to a range of factors, including long distances, high costs as well as worsening diplomatic ties with China and unfriendly attitudes toward Chinese tourists. 

Notably, Australia, which ranked sixth place last year, fell out of the top 10 in 2024, while South Korea did not make the top 10 list for two years. Japan, which ranked second in last year's poll, dropped to fifth place this year. 

Zeng said that while Japan remains a popular destination, its popularity among Chinese tourists is falling. China-Japan ties have soured, as Tokyo appears intent on aiding the US' containment strategy against China and its plan of dumping nuclear wastewater into the ocean drew widespread indignation among Chinese people.

Chinese tourists' enthusiasm for South Korea, which was once a top destination for Chinese travelers, has also fallen sharply due to a slew of factors, including the current South Korean government's hostile policies toward China and reports of Chinese visitors being mistreated or even discriminated against in South Korea. 

In 2023, some Chinese tourists said upon arrival at a South Korean airport, they were singled out and forced to wear a yellow sign around their neck before being escorted to a special area for relevant checks.  

For Australia, the main reason behind its fall in popularity despite improving bilateral ties is mostly high costs and limited flight numbers, experts said.

Overall, there will be a significant growth in the number of Chinese outbound tourists during the Chinese Lunar New Year and throughout the year, with many indicators returning to that of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic, though some uncertainties exist, including the global geo-economic situation, experts noted.