Chinese tourists arrive by a cruise ship on the first day of South Korea's visa-free entry for Chinese group tourists at the port of Incheon in South Korea on September 29, 2025. Photo: VCG

South Korea has emerged as the top outbound destination for Chinese travelers in terms of the volume of international flight tickets booked, data from online travel agency Qunar showed on Monday, citing the data over the past weekend (November 15-16).

The shift came amid the background as China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Sunday issued an advisory, urging Chinese tourists to avoid travelling to Japan for the time being.

On the same day, the Ministry of Education issued a study abroad warning, suggesting Chinese nationals to carefully plan study arrangements to Japan.

In terms of flight search volume, South Korea also ranked first, Qunar added, saying that as of Monday, Seoul of South Korea was the most-searched destination for outbound flights.

Other destinations with high search indices include Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Macao, Sydney and Bali. Among these, search volumes for Singapore, Sydney and Bali increased by over 10 percent compared to the previous week.

On Saturday, multiple Chinese airlines including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Spring Airlines and Sichuan Airlines announced special ticket-handling policies for flights involving Japan, allowing eligible passengers to change or refund their tickets free of charge.

In response to a question about the travel reminders issued by various Chinese departments —advising Chinese citizens to avoid traveling to Japan — might affect many Chinese people and reduce people-to-people exchanges, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday that the wrongful remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Taiwan have seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and poisoned the atmosphere for people-to-people exchange between China and Japan. 

Japan needs to remain committed to the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, correct the wrong remarks and actions at once, and avoid causing further damage to China-Japan relations, Mao said. 

From the perspective of flight booking growth, year-end travel is becoming more diverse and dispersed, Qunar said.

Some previously niche outbound travel destinations have shown significant increases in flight bookings. Compared with November 8-9, the top gainers in outbound flight bookings over the past weekend included Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Cambodia - with Sri Lanka registering a 36 percent surge and Uzbekistan a 21 percent rise.

Yang Han, a researcher at the Qunar Big Data Research Institute, said that the demand for off-peak outbound travel among Chinese tourists remains strong from now until the end of 2025, and some travelers who originally planned to visit Japan have shifted to other destinations, leading to more diversified choices. 

As a result, South Korea has now replaced Japan as the most popular outbound travel destination. Meanwhile, Hong Kong and Macao, which are geographically close, as well as Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, which offer cost-effective travel options, remain highly popular among Chinese travelers, Yang said.

Global Times