Explore the World: Chinese Outbound Tourism Booms During Golden Week with More Flight Options

Published on September 24, 2025

As the Mid-Autumn Festival and the October 1 break near, holiday-makers from China are packing their bags. This year, the eight-day Golden Week, from September 27 to October 8, promises record numbers heading overseas. Soaring interest in visa-free trips, fresh international flight schedules, and the rise of tailored journeys are all lighting the travel spark. Because these holiday-makers are just as excited to walk the cobbled streets of hidden denouements as they are to return to famous landmarks, the trend is expected to roll even faster in the 2025 Golden Week.

Getting a ticket is hardly a hurdle these days. Streamlined visas and growing flight routes are pushing even the edge of travellers to outshine the ordinary. Latest insights from Airbnb back that up: sighting Chinese holiday bookers for stays from September 27 to October 8 has climbed almost 100% over last year, proof that the craving for journeys abroad is real and roaring.

Flattening Restrictions and Rising Curiosity

After a long stretch of restrictions, a huge wave of Chinese vacationers is ready to hit the skies once more. New flight routes and simpler visa processes have opened up possibilities, and everyone can feel the excitement. Instead of a quick selfie in front of a famous landmark, people are now asking for customised adventures, so travel planners around the world have added experiences like local craft classes, cooking lessons, and night markets in the mix. More of the world is suddenly within reach, and the holidays feel extra special this year.

Numbers back up the buzz: websites like Airbnb are lighting up with Chinese travellers scanning rooms in faraway countries. That’s not a last-minute habit; it’s a tell-tale sign of long-term travel plans taking shape. Analysts are optimistic, predicting the flood of outbound tourists won’t taper off until at least the end of 2025, as routes keep multiplying, policies keep improving, and curiosity keeps soaring.

Japan: Confident, Yet Open to the Unfamiliar

Of course, some old favourites are still leading the pack. Japan, Italy, France, Spain, and the United States still rank as the most desired hotspots, but peek at the booking data and you’ll see a shift. Japan still tops the wish-lists, yet travellers are no longer happy with the same routes to Tokyo and Kyoto; now they’re doubling and tripling yearly interest in smaller cities like Fukuoka and Takamatsu. Travel agents are busy picking trains, family-run inns, and yes, passport-perfect sunsets by little harbours, leaving enough time for street food near the port at night. The package used to be mega-cities and castles; it now mixes hidden gems and authentic encounters, signalling a wave of curious travellers ready to go deeper this winter.

Spain, Italy, and France are heating up on travellers’ screens, too—searches for these countries shot up by more than double compared to last summer. While places like Rome, Barcelona, and Paris still pull lots of eyeballs, travellers are now swapping crowded market squares for hidden seaside villages and lavender-scented valleys, hoping to sneak off the postcard path.

Beyond the bustling streets, the call of the great outdoors is ringing loud. Soaring interest is pouring into tropical patches like Okinawa and Phu Quoc, with searches tripling and even rising seven times. Blink and you’ll miss the crystal waters, bushy palms, and the soft “hush” of the surf, each small beach offering a shorter drive than a trek out of the hotel lobby of a skyscraping city.

New Getaways: Russia and Beyond

Visa rules are becoming friendlier, and China’s travellers are turning their sights to farther-off places. Russia stands out—research shows the number of Chinese travellers searching for flights to Moscow shot up by about 3.3 times over the last month and by nearly four times in a year. The jump follows a fresh visa-free deal: Russians can now visit China without a visa, and in return, Chinese citizens can enter Russia the same way. The back-and-forth of new, shorter rules makes the journey feel smooth and quick, giving tourism a fresh jolt.

Opening up the homeland of the czars is fuelling a fresh wave of explorers. Shanghai and Chengdu friends are already posting plans to visit the same day they book flights. They want to stroll through the historic courtyards of the Kremlin and snap selfies on the tiled patterns of Red Square. Moscow’s famous onion domes glimmer on their phone screens, luring new travellers each day. Expect the excitement to keep growing—once people discover a treasure, they want to return and take friends along.

Growing Demand for Personalised Travel

In 2025, one big headline jumped out from all the travel news: Chinese tourists want travel experiences completely made for them. More than ever, they’re asking for custom trip plans that take them to tiny villages, private beaches, or the best-kept local secrets. Everything from luxury transport through undiscovered fjords to boutique houses in quiet rainforests is popping up to cater to interests that can change from one person to the next—nature one minute, heart-pumping adventure the next, or maybe a quiet space to recharge the mind and spirit.

That craving for the one-of-a-kind trip doesn’t just sit at the plan-the-week kind of level. Niche travel worlds are shooting from hardly heard-of to must-book—consider adventure tourism that includes sailing lessons one day, beach camping the next, or wellness retreats that let guests work on yoga under mushroom tents. Family roots tours exploring craft, folklore, or local food echo down the travel lists, too. The bottom line? Same passports, fresh twists, and a wave of creativity edging outbound tourism from China.

Fewer red tape rules around passports are opening roads beyond borders for millions of Chinese travellers, and these rules actually work like super-charged magnets for outbound tourism. Recently, folks hopping over to places like Russia have been saying “thank you” to visa-free deals that fill passports with just a stamp and a smile. Getting that stamp is faster, and the bonus is that gifts of handshakes and kitchen-table dinners happen between China and visiting countries, stitching friendships a little tighter with every trip. Why does the Chinese government care? Picture a giant scoreboard where the “goal” is a chirpy new tourism economy that sprinkles crowds and cash around the globe, and fewer visa forms are the fuel that powers the scoreboard.

To make globetrotting even easier, the Big Time Decision Club has been turning more airport puzzle pieces. Wide orange ribbons of new planes buzz through the blue, connecting smaller Chinese airports to must-visit places like Rome, Cairo, and Buenos Aires. More takeoff slots mean more bargain fares, shorter lines, and adrenaline-filled travel planning. Likewise, that overseas flight now looks like a joyful puzzle move for the “let’s book for the Golden Week” team, which opens endless selfie-potential options beyond the flight arrivals board.

Conclusion

The numbers show that China’s travel continent is still expanding, with millions heading out from its gates every month. In every group snapshot, you see youngsters to grandparents matching phones to landmark posters, ready to visit repeat favourites like Kyoto or Paris, or to shop through the seaside markets of Okinawa and Phu Quoc. Technology now tailors every part of the trip, pushing them farther out to new postcards that still drop softly into mini-business class seats. Add to that smarter visa lines shortening the entry dance every time, and the appetite for stamps that cover the whole world is only getting hungrier.