Chengdu Sees over 22,000 Inbound Visits during New Year's Day Holiday

Data from Chengdu Immigration Inspection Station reveals that Chengdu recorded over 22,000 foreign entries during the three-day New Year’s Day holiday, a year-on-year surge of 74.8%. Notably, the top three source countries of inbound visitors were Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia. According to travel platforms, Chengdu entered into the top two most popular tourist destinations in China and the top five for inbound tourism.

Data from Qunar indicates that passengers with non-Chinese passports booked domestic flights to 97 cities during the New Year’s Day holiday. The most popular cities among inbound tourists were Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Harbin, Haikou, Xiamen, Qingdao, and Hangzhou.

On January 1, the first cross-border travel season in 2026 began with a peak in visitor numbers. The launch of numerous new air routes significantly facilitated “China Travel” and continued to fuel its growing popularity, attracting more foreign tourists to celebrate New Year in China. Qunar’s data shows a 20% year-on-year increase in inbound flight bookings for the day. The top 10 most popular destinations among inbound visitors were Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Shenyang, Nanjing, and Chongqing. When it comes to growth, several cities stood out. Beyond the popular choices of Sanya and Haikou, Kunming, Ningbo, Zhengzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Changchun, and Guangzhou more than doubled their inbound numbers, while Chengdu, Nanjing, Xi’an, Tianjin, and Shenzhen saw increases of over 50%.

According to Meituan Travel’s statistics, Chengdu ranked second nationwide among the top 10 most popular tourist destinations during New Year’s Day, trailing only Nanjing.

Data shows that Chengdu Immigration Inspection Station processed over 1.72 million foreign exits and entries throughout 2025, a 52.3% year-on-year growth. On New Year’s Eve, numerous international tourists chose to arrive in Chengdu early to welcome the new year.

Source:  HomeinChengdu