Singapore attracts Chinese tourists during Mid-Autumn Festival
PUBLISHED ONAugust 27, 2014 9:35 AM
SINGAPORE - Instead of spending the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, Chinese travellers seem to be venturing out of the country and celebrating the occasion in a non-conventional way. But where do they head to?
According to recent findings from Hotels.com, hotel searches to Singapore from Jan to Jul 2014 during the Mid-Autumn period increased by 47 per cent, in comparison to the same period the year before.
The data also showed that Chinese travellers mostly picked Asia for short trips during this festive occasion, which is from 6-8 Sept, with nine out of the top 10 destination searches coming from Asia.
Phuket, Thailand was the number one search whilst Seoul, Korea and Taipei, Taiwan came in second and third respectively. Singapore came in ninth position, whilst Berlin, Germany, was the sole European destination to make it on the list at tenth position.
Katherine Cole, Regional Director at Hotels.com said that one of the main reasons behind the increase in searches from Chinese travellers is that Singapore is known as a shopping paradise.
She also added that as the Chinese become richer, together with the convenience of travelling and stronger Chinese dollar, Singapore has quickly become a popular luxury choice for the Chinese.
Top 10 destination searches from Chinese travellers during the Mid-Autumn festival period on the Hotels.com China website (6-8 Sept 2014)
1. Phuket, Thailand
2. Seoul, Korea
3. Taipei, Taiwan
4. Tokyo, Japan
5. Hong Kong
6. Maldives
7. Bangkok, Thailand
8. Osaka, Japan
9. Singapore
10. Berlin, Germany
stephluo@sph.com.sg