Many Chinese travelers still prefer Southeast Asian countries as their top overseas destinations for the upcoming Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, with Maldives, Singapore and Thailand topping the top 10 list, according to a Global Times online poll.
Notably, Japan's ranking dropped and some traditional popular destinations such as Australia and South Korea didn't make the top 10.
Behind the shifts in Chinese travelers' preference for overseas destinations are changes in visa policies in some countries and a friendly environment for Chinese tourists, experts said. Meanwhile, reports of unfriendly or discriminatory treatment of Chinese tourists have also contributed to the fall of some traditional top destinations in the rankings.
According to the Global Times' online poll with nearly 25,000 responses, this year's top 10 overseas destinations are the Maldives, Singapore, Thailand, Russia, Japan, New Zealand, Iceland, Switzerland, France and Italy.
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