Tokyo Takes Top Destinations for Asian Travelers During Lunar New Year 2020

Tokyo, Bangkok and Taipei are the top three destinations for travelers from across Asia to celebrate the Lunar New Year, according to data from Agoda, one of the world’s fastest growing digital travel platforms. This year, Tokyo nudged Bangkok off pole position, steadily climbing the ranks from third place in 2018 to the top spot, while Taipei moves to third place.

In fact, Taiwan is a key destination this year, with four of the market’s cities featuring in the top ten, Taipei (#3), Taichung (#4), Kaohsiung (#6) and Tainan (#9). Other favourite destinations to welcome the Lunar New Year include Seoul (#7) and Chiang Mai (#10).

Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival, sees the biggest global migration as revellers across the globe visit family and friends. Spending quality time with family and enjoying tasty treats for reunion dinners takes precedence during the Lunar New Year, making it a perfect time for the whole family to travel together. It is little wonder then, that Japan, Malaysia and Thailand secured top overall destinations for Asian travelers, to bring in the Lunar New Year — each offering their own unique blend of mouth-watering eats, cultural experiences and shopping havens for every member in the family to enjoy.

Lunar New Year Travel Highlights by Market:

• Travelers from China are flocking to Japan with Tokyo, Osaka and Sapporo the top international destination cities for Chinese travelers.
• Japan is the number one country for travelers from Thailand this Spring Festival, with eight of the top 10 cities in Japan.
• Meanwhile, Japanese travelers are heading to more tropical destinations this Lunar New Year – Thailand’s Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai scooping 1^st, 3^rd and 9^th spots respectively while Singapore, Cebu and Honolulu come in 7^th, 8^th and 10^th. Meanwhile Seoul moves up from 4^th in 2019 to 2^nd spot for this year.
• South Korean travelers are also heading for beach destinations to celebrate ‘Seollal’ with top ten entries including Nha Trang (#3), Da Nang (#4), (in Vietnam), Cebu (#6) (in Philippines), Guam (#8) (in Micronesia) and Bali (#10) (in Indonesia).
• Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are the main beneficiaries from Singapore travelers this Lunar New Year, while Batam, Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur scoop the top three cities’ titles.
• Travelers from Taiwan are heading to international destinations to celebrate the Spring Festival are flocking to Japan with 7 of the top 10 top destinations within the country. South Korea’s Seoul (#6) and Busan (#9) are also winners this year.
• Vietnamese travelers celebrate ‘Tet Nguen Dan’ (or Tet), and this year, once again, travelers seeking international destinations are heading to the bustling cosmopolitan cities Bangkok (#1), Singapore (#2), Taipei (#3) to celebrate.
• Malaysia, the second most visited country for travelers from across Asia this Lunar New Year, also scoops five of the top 10 international destinations for Indonesian travelers — Kuala Lumpur (#1), Genting Highlands (#4), Penang (#6), Johor Bahru (#8), and Kuching (#9).
• Malaysian travelers heading for international shores are choosing neighbouring Thailand for five of its top destination cities (Hat Yai, #1; Bangkok, #2; Krabi, #3; Phuket, #4; and Koh Lip, #10).

Indonesia

Even though Lunar New Year was only instituted as an official holiday in Indonesia in 2003, the holiday has become one of the most prominent celebrations in the country. In 2020, Malaysia, Japan and Thailand remain as the most popular countries to travel to for the second year running. Malaysia leads the pack with no shortage of great destinations within the country for Indonesians to head to. This includes Kuala Lumpur (#1), Genting Highlands (#4), Penang (#6), Johor Bahru (#8) and Kuching (#9). 2020 also marks the first year that Osaka (#7) and Kyoto (#10) appears on the list of favourite destinations for Indonesians during the Lunar New Year.

On the flip side, Singaporeans also have a preference for celebrating their Lunar New Year holidays in Indonesia — with the country placing second in Singapore’s list of favourite destinations. Beach destinations are most popular among these city-dwellers, with Batam (#1), Bintan (#6) and Bali (#7) appearing in this year’s list.