The great 2024 travel rush set to unfold soon

Winter in China means demand for ice- and snow-themed trips will be high. At the same time, places where it is summer now, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, have caught the attention of Chinese travelers. They are the hot spots for so-called counter-season travel.

Eyeing demand surge, tourism promotion agencies of different countries have increased efforts to attract Chinese travelers.

South African Tourism said South Africa has one of the largest young populations and tailor-made travel packages for young people in China. Chinese tourists tend to spend more days and travel with groups in South Africa, and the agency would like to engage and cooperate with more tour operators in China.

After the pandemic, the tourism industry has recovered fast in South Africa. In 2023, the country welcomed more than 16 million visitors, of whom 4.2 million came from Africa, and many others came from Europe and the United States. In late 2022, Air China resumed flights connecting Beijing and Johannesburg.

From January to September 2023, about 93,000 Chinese travelers visited South Africa, up 248 percent year-on-year. Besides, Chinese tourists' average per capita expenditure in South Africa reached 18,518 yuan during the period, according to the China Tourism Academy.

"We also promote traveling in the continent of Africa. We are now promoting package tours to small towns, villages and townships, not just the Table Mountain. We have also got a beer industry that is growing substantially," Patricia de Lille, South Africa's tourism minister, said at a recent event in Beijing.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Tourism Board has held various activities in China recently to attract more Chinese travelers. New Zealand was among the first group of 20 overseas destinations that China resumed group tours to, and the number of Chinese tourists visiting New Zealand steadily increased in 2023.

In the first eight months of 2023, some 76,000 Chinese visited New Zealand, and more than half of them went to New Zealand for vacationing. In August last year, New Zealand welcomed about 16,000 Chinese tourists, or 53 percent of the volume seen in the same period of 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, according to the tourism board.

Since December, the direct flights that connect China and New Zealand have fully resumed compared with the pre-COVID-19 period. Six airlines now operate flights connecting key cities in New Zealand and eight cities in China.

Since Dec 1, Malaysia started visa-free policy for Chinese travelers for up to 30 days, as this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia. Online searches for Malaysia-related travel products surged in China after the announcement.