More Chinese choosing S'pore to spend Golden Week holiday

Local tour operators, travel platforms see demand spike amid visa-free scheme

- Anjali Raguraman

Several travel platforms told The Straits Times that many Singaporeans are choosing to head to China and spend a longer time there during the end-of-year peak holiday season.

During the Natas Holidays travel fair in August, Chan Brothers said bookings to China tripled compared with a year earlier. Destinations in south-western China such as Yunnan, Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as Xinjiang and Tibet, proved to be popular.

For the first half of 2024, the travel agency said that it already saw a more than twofold increase in bookings to China, compared with the same period in 2019 before the pandemic.

The 30-day visa-free arrangement has also meant that Singaporean travellers to China are able to enjoy longer holidays in China fuss-free, noted Mr Jeremiah Wong, Chan Brothers' assistant director for marketing communications.

Previously, Singaporeans could stay in China without a visa for only 15 days.

He added that their longer tours of up to 21 days and featuring destinations such as Chengdu, Yunnan, Fujian and Guangdong, have been well received by travellers looking for a more immersive, relaxed holiday experience in China.

Similarly, Trip.com's Singapore general manager, Mr Edmund Ong, expects a good number of bookings between both countries for the later part of this year, with many Singaporeans heading to China for the year-end school holidays.

"Travel from Singapore to China has shown strong growth," noted Mr Ong, citing that the combined booking volume of flights, hotels, and tours and tickets grew by 322 per cent from Feb 9 - when the 30-day mutual visa kicked in - to Aug 31, 2024, compared with the same period in the year before.

Given the strong interest, he said that Trip.com has responded by rolling out targeted promotions and packages such as flight and accommodation bundles and travel packages to encourage travel between both markets.