China’s Travelers Reroute From Japan: Korea, Thailand and Russia Battle for Market Share

As diplomatic tensions between China and Japan escalate, Chinese outbound tourists are rapidly diverting their winter travel plans, and South Korea is emerging as a frontrunner for redirected Chinese travel demand. However, South Korea is now facing fierce competition from destinations such as Thailand and Russia, reported The Korea Times. 

The shift began after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan might intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait. This led Beijing to issue a travel warning on Nov. 14 which resulted in Chinese airlines cancelling many Japan-bound flights (with Japan Today reporting that as many as half a million flights were canceled), leaving travelers scrambling to find alternatives.

Growing Interest in South Korea and Beyond

Chinese travel data indicate a sharp surge in interest for South Korea since mid-November. South China Morning Post had reported that Chinese Airlines operated around 30-40 Japanese routes but following the diplomatic scuffle slashed 12 of these routes, which included Kyoto and Osaka among others. The same publication had also reported that “by November 17, Chinese airlines had received 491,000 air ticket booking cancellations for flights to Japan – about 32 per cent of total bookings…..“

As a result of the cancellations, interest in other countries grew, and South Korea was an obvious choice- given that much like Japan it is one of the nations in what is collectively known as “The Far East“, and lies quite close to China. South Korea also has free VISA policies to the travelers part of a group from China. The following data indicated how good a prospect Korea has become for Chinese travelers:

Data: Korea Times

However, individual people who want to go to Korea need a VISA, prompting Chinese people to look for other options such as Russia, Thailand, among other nations. Only a couple of days ago, Reuters reported that Russia would allow many categories of Chinese people, such as:

• Academics
• Businesspeople
• Tourists
• Artists
• Sports people

a VISA-free access to the nation, whose war with Ukraine destroyed some of the most beautiful aircraft, for thirty days:

“Putin’s decree said that his decision mirrored a move by Beijing to grant visa-free access to China for many categories of Russian citizens and that the new Russian rules would remain in force until September 14 2026. The new rules do not cover Chinese migrant works, long-term students, or workers in the logistics and transport sector.”

5 most wonderful aircraft destroyed in the Russia-Ukraine war

South Korea’s VISA waiver that kicked it all off

Before September 29, 2025, even group travelers from China to South Korea had to apply for VISAs. But the Korean government to waive VISA for group travelers from Sept 29 until June 30, 2026. According to China Daily, South Korea is the 3rd most popular overseas destination for Chinese travelers (after Japan and Thailand), and reported the following numbers:

• Search surge: Internet searches for Seoul travel products jumped 70% within 30 minutes of the announcement of exemption of VISAs.

• Passenger trips in 2024: Chinese travelers made 4.6 million trips to South Korea, accounting for 28.1% of all inbound tourists.

• Group tours by Spring Tour: Operating daily group tours from Shanghai to South Korea from August to end of October.

• GDP impact (Bank of Korea): Every 1 million additional Chinese group tourists increases GDP by 0.08 percentage points.

World’s Longest Route: China Eastern Expands 2025 Winter–Spring Flights

Airline profile of Korean carriers that have Capitalized on the Rising Visitors from China

According to the data of the Japan National Tourism Organization that was quoted in Korea JonngAng Daily, 2024 saw 6.06 million Chinese tourists in Japan and their spending totaled 1.7 trillion yen ($10.9 billion), accounting for almost a fifth of all foreign tourist spending. The same publication also reported of the following rebounding of sales at major discount chains and fashion retailers:

• • At key Seoul Daiso branches, payments via Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay rose 130–250% year-on-year in October.

  • From early November to Nov. 20, the Myeong-dong store saw a 200% jump and the Gangnam flagship 230%.

  • At Musinsa’s Myeong-dong and Seongsu stores, Chinese tourist spending increased 126% and 89% between Nov. 1–19 year-on-year.

Two airlines from South Korea have already upped their services to and from Japan, as evidenced in the following table:

Asiana Airlines operates a fleet of 68 aircraft while Korean Air has 173 aircraft in its fleet. According to planespotters.net, the average age of the aircraft in these two carrier’s fleets is 10.3 and 10.9 years, respectively.

Korean Air introduced the Incheon (ICN)–Fuzhou (FOC) route around the end of 2024, as Fuzhou was a growing travel destination with the following attractions.

When Korean introduced the ICN-FOC, AeroTime reported, that the flight (departing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) times would be the following:

• KE 127 departing ICN 08:40 and arriving in FOC 10:30
• KE 128 departing FOC 11:40 and arriving in Seoul 15:35*

*all times were on Local Time.

According to Flight Routes, the route is almost 894 miles long and the Boeing 737MAX8 Korean Air operates on this route is nearly three hours long. Here’s how Korean Air configures its Boeing 737MAX8:

China’s busiest Domestic Airline Routes for March 2025

Emergence of Other Destinations: Particularly Russia and Thailand

Russia is a powerhouse of a nation that has always been at the forefront of aviation: whether it be the manufacturing of the first supersonic passenger aircraft in the world, the Tupolev Tu-144, or the Ilysuhin Il-76. But now, die to the emergence of tensions between Russia and Japan, Russia has also emerged as a wonderful travel option for Chinese.

In a statement issued by Vladivostok Airport to South China Morning Post, the airport said that the place where the airport is located “is interesting by itself as a city with European ambience, Christian culture, military history and with China-friendly infrastructure,” , while a travel company said:

“Russia offers a unique combination of natural scenery, cultural charm and affordability, particularly its distinctive winter travel experiences such as aurora hunting and admiring the blue ice of Lake Baikal,”

The information in the following table gives us a

Thailand is Rising but Problems Remain

According to Data released by Qunar that was quoted by Koream Times, “Thailand has become the top destination for Chinese outbound tourists during the winter vacation period (Jan. 15 to Feb. 10, 2026)“. However, Thai Times revealed that Thailand maybe having a difficult time to hit the target of attracting 9 million Chinese visitors in 2025. 

This worry from Thailand comes in light of the kidnapping of Chinese actor Wang Xing after arriving in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Hundreds of Chinese workers were freed from scam centers in Thailand. The following numbers posted by ThaiTimes might give us a better story:

• Flight cancellations to Thailand spiked by 94% last month.

• Thailand logged only 711,000 Chinese visitors by early February.

• Thailand may top out at just 7.5 million Chinese tourists in 2025 if safety fears persist.

• Demand remains choppy, with March flight bookings still 10% below the previous week’s levels.

• Flight demand for April and May is projected to climb by over 3%.