2026年中国游客情绪报告：变化世界中的旅行价值 (4月版)

ChineseTraveler Sentiment Report Dragon Trail Research Introduction: In a changing world, travel stilloffers respite from the everyday, throughfresh experiences, landscapes, and cultures Much has changed in the world since Dragon Trail’s last ChineseTravelerSentimentReport, published in September 2025. Several developments in particular haveimpacted Chinese outbound tourism. The fallout from a diplomatic incident inNovember 2025 has halved flight capacity from China to Japan–which had been How are Chinese consumers reacting to theseevents?Our latestChineseTravelerSentiment Survey, conducted between 16-20 March 2026, with 1,038respondents,offers answers. Outboundtravel intention hassoftened compared to last year,butitremainshigher than in 2024.Trends like longer trips, increased spending on The Iran war has already had a major impact on Chinesetravelers’plans, and safetyperceptions for Gulf countries have fallen significantly. Japan, usually perceived asa relatively “safe” travel destination by Chinese consumers, has dropped to its lowestsafety rating since China lifted COVID-era restrictions on international travel. However, Japan remains firmly in the top 10 list of travel destinations, with surveyrespondents still inspired to visit through social media content. At the same time, Amid the stresses of world events and everyday life, Chinese consumers are seekingrelaxation as a central motivation for travel–it’s the top reason survey respondentsgave for traveling outbound during the upcoming MayLaborDay holiday. In this report, we’ve included a deep dive on wellness travel to explore this theme further–looking into what kinds of wellness and sports-related activities are most in demand China’s outbound travel market is highly safety conscious, but also resilient andlooking for new adventures. We hope this report will prove valuable to global travel Sienna Parulis-CookDirector of Marketingand Communications Tiana TianMarket Research Analyst Janice MengMarket Research Analyst Chinesetravelersurvey findings:Our6top takeaways from the report 1)May holiday will bring longer, regional trips 24% of respondents who intended to take an outbound trip in 2026 said theyplanned to do so during theMayLaborDay holiday (1-5 May). Most trips will beintra-regional, with South Korea, Macau, Thailand, and Hong Kong the topdestinations. Close to half (44%) of respondents plan to take extra leave to extend 2)Destination preferences and safety rankings show major shifts Thailand is experiencing a strong comeback among Chinese tourists this year, withimproving safety ratings, a boost in the percentage of survey respondents whoplan to travel there for the May holiday, and greater traveler intention to visitSoutheast Asia. In contrast, the impact of China’s travel advisory for Japan is 3)The Iran war has already had a profound impact on Chinese travel plans Survey respondents identified the international security situation as the top factorinfluencing their outbound travel decisions.43% of survey respondents’ travel planshave already been impacted by the Iran war, andwe see softening travelintention to nearly all world regions.Two-thirds (65%) said the war had significantly 4)Chinesetravelersplan to increase spending on experiencesOver half (56%) of Chinese outbound travelers say they are planning to increase spending on activities and experiences, with 49% planning to increase spendingon dining. Young travelers aged 18-24 showed a stronger intention to increase 5)Social media content–especially natural scenery–inspires Chinese travelers RedNote(Xiaohongshu) remains the top source of outbound travel information,chosen by 53% of respondents in this survey. Following closely are Douyin, andOTAs like Ctrip. Chinese travelers said they were inspired by social media to visit a 6)Relaxation and stress relief are Chinese travelers’ top wellness goals The majority ofChinese travelers are open to integrating some wellnessexperiences into their trips, especially with the goal of relaxation and stress relief.Spa and hot spring experiences, and nature-based healingactivities aremost 2026 Travel In early March, Dragon Trail surveyed Chinese travelers’ interestand preferences for outbound travel in 2026. While interest ininternational travel has softened slightly compared to spring 2025,it remains higher than in 2024. The international security situation isnow the top factor influencing destination choices. Lookingahead to the May Dayholiday, our survey findingsrevealkey 72% of Chinese travelersexpress interestintraveling outbound this year As of mid-March, 4% of survey respondents had already taken an outbound tripin 2026, and another 23% had booked their first outbound journey of the year.Compared with last year, overall outbound travel interest in 2026 has softenslightly, from 75% in spring 2025 to 72% this year, though it remains higher than South Korea tops visited destinations, andIceland enters the top five in