Chinese tourist arrivals in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan double over New Year holidays
From 1 to 3 January, Central Asia emerged as the most popular destination for Chinese travelers, Qazinform News Agency reports citing local media.
A report by the Qunar travel platform revealed that all of the top ten outbound tourism destinations chosen by Chinese tourists during the New Year were in Asia, with Seoul topping the list.
Notably, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia showed a strong growth, with flight bookings to these countries doubling compared to the same period last year. Industry analysts attribute this surge to the introduction of a visa-free regime for Chinese citizens.
Inbound tourism also experienced a sharp rise. The southern Chinese island province of Hainan attracted significant attention, boosted by the launch of an ‘independent customs operations’ regime in December, which significantly revitalized the market.
The leaders in terms of growth in bookings among foreign citizens were the cities of Sanya, where the figure increased fivefold, and Haikou, with a threefold increase. The majority of international arrivals to Hainan in early January came from Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Australia and Russia.
Earlier, it was reported that Morocco recorded surge in tourism with 19.8 million visitors in 2025.
