Chengdu among Top 3 Inbound Travel First Stops This Holiday

Chengdu has once again captured widespread attention during the Spring Festival holiday.

According to data from major travel platforms, Chengdu ranked among the top three “first stops” favored by international inbound travelers.

As a growing number of international tourists choose to celebrate the Chinese New Year in China and experience traditional Chinese culture, air ticket bookings for inbound travel during the Spring Festival holiday increased nearly tenfold year-on-year. Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Beijing, Dalian, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and other cities emerged as the most popular “first stops” among international tourists to China.

According to data from Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Culture, Broadcast, TV, and Tourism, Chengdu recorded 77,000 tourist arrivals during the Spring Festival holiday, an increase of 47.2%. The UK, the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and other countries ranked among the top source countries of tourists. In Chengdu’s core commercial districts, such as Chunxi Road and Taikoo Li, international visitors were frequently seen in queues outside hot pot restaurants. At night, the scenery along the Jinjiang River drew large crowds of overseas tourists. From February 15 to February 21, 2026, the Night Cruise on Jinjiang River program attracted a total of approximately 418,000 visits, including around 8,000 international visits.

Chengdu’s international and regional air routes emerged as a major growth highlight. During the holiday, Chengdu recorded a total of 1,400 international and regional flights, passenger throughput of 207,000 trips, and cargo and mail throughput of 9,000 tonnes, with the daily averages increasing by 14.6%, 18.7%, and 14.8% respectively compared to data for the same period in 2025. On the first day of the Chinese New Year alone, over 60 inbound flights arrived in Chengdu.

From the start of the Spring Festival travel rush (chunyun) on February 2 to February 22, 2026, the passenger throughput of Chengdu International Aviation Hub amounted to 5.922 million trips, an increase of 7.2% compared to the same period during the previous year’s chunyun.

Source: HomeinChengdu