Chinese outbound travel intention continues to increase signal Dragon Trail International

CHINA. Dragon Trail International’s latest Travel Sentiment Report, presented in a webinar today (23 April), demonstrated an upbeat outlook for China’s outbound travel market, at least in total passenger numbers.

The findings revealed (as of mid-March), 75% of survey respondents have either travelled or plan to travel outbound in 2025. That’s up +12% compared to March 2024 and +34% compared to April 2023.

The leading destinations for those who have already travelled outbound in 2025 will be within Asia, but interest in all other regions has grown.

Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Thailand all ranked highest for trips that respondents have already taken in 2025. These five destinations also ranked high for trips Chinese travellers plan to take later in the year.

The study also reveald interest levels in travelling to different world regions. For the first time since Dragon Trail introduced this question in the Travel Sentiment survey in 2023, Northeast Asia has surpassed Europe to be the most desired destination.

Africa has seen the largest gain in interest compared to Spring 2024. Southeast Asia is the only region with a score that’s lower than it was a year ago, although still ranked third.

Interest in almost every region continues to increase as time goes on, indicating a growing willingness to travel outside of Mainland China after the prolonged isolation of the COVID years.

Dragon Trail International also demonstrated a sustained positive shift in perception of safety when travelling to different destinations. Nearly every country in the Travel Sentiment survey is now seen as safer than it was perceived in August 2024 with some notable Southeast Asian exceptions.

Singapore has declined slightly since August 2024, but is still higher than it was at the same time last year. Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia appear to be suffering from the impact of organised crime in the region. In particular, more than half of travellers now feel Thailand is unsafe – this is up from 38% last year and 28% in December 2022.

You can access the full Dragon Trial webinar presentation slides here. You can also download the Dragon Trail Chinese Outbound Travel Trade Survey: January 2025 here.