Airbnb Spring Outbound Travel Trend Report: Double the Popularity of Qingming Holiday, Leading Destinations in Japan among Hot Searches.

Recently, Airbnb released a report on spring outbound travel trends. The report stated that the strong momentum of travel during the Spring Festival has not subsided, with increasing cross-border flights and further price reductions for international airline tickets, continuing to stimulate the enthusiasm of Chinese travelers for spring outbound travel. The Qingming Festival holiday, as the first peak of spring travel, saw a nearly doubling of outbound travel compared to the same period last year, with Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the United States, New Zealand, France, Italy, Australia, Germany, and Malaysia among the top ten hot search destinations for the Qingming holiday. Among them, Japan, with its cherry blossoms, maintained its top spot with a search volume nearly five times that of the second place, making it the undisputed "top stream" of spring outbound travel; European destinations have also seen increased popularity. Kong Zhiqiu, responsible for Airbnb's business in China, said, "This year's strong demand for spring outbound travel is benefiting from the strong momentum of the Qingming and May Day holidays. Chinese travelers are also going farther and wider. This spring, Airbnb China users have searched for destinations in over 2,700 cities worldwide, everyone looks forward to encountering fresh, interesting, and unique travel memories in more diverse destinations, which is Airbnb's advantage. It is not difficult to foresee that this lively growth in outbound travel is led by Generation Z, with two or three friends traveling together accounting for two-thirds of the overall travel demand, sharing the beauty of spring with friends is a popular way to travel in spring!" As cherry blossoms in Japan continue to bloom, the search volume for accommodations in Japan by Chinese users has increased to 2.5 times that of the same period last year. Traditional popular destinations Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto dominated the top three global hot search cities during the Qingming Festival holiday. At the same time, the demand from Chinese travelers for niche, authentic cherry blossom experiences is leading to the continual expansion of the "Cherry Blossom Map", with second-tier destinations such as Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Nagoya across Japan making their mark this spring. According to Airbnb data, among the top 30 hot search outbound travel destinations for the Qingming holiday this year, European countries and regions accounted for half of the positions, with high overall popularity. Northern and Southern Europe are particularly popular, with Chinese travelers now eager to explore lesser-known destinations in mainland Europe and discover diverse landscapes. Emerging first-tier cities like Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen are seeing increased direct flights to Central Europe, potentially becoming another strong engine driving the "Spring Europe Heat".