Crowded Exit and Entry Office Hall of Jiangbei District Public Security Sub-bureau (Photo provided by the Police)

CHONGQING(CQNEWS)--How did you spend the Spring Festival holiday? In addition to visiting relatives and friends, more and more Chongqing people chose to spend the Spring Festival holiday abroad. On February 13th, according to the Exit and Entry Administration of Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau, 171,000 people applied for exit certificates around the Spring Festival. Outbound tourists amounted to 53,000 during the holiday. United Arab Emirates (UAE) became the most popular destination with the greatest growth in tourists.

Administration issued 226,000 exit certificates around the Spring Festiva.l

The number of applications for exit certificates sharply increased one week before the Spring Festival.

Statistics indicated that 171,000 people applied for exit certificates and the Administration issued 226,000 exit certificates, including 53,000 passports, 148,000 laissez-passer to Hong Kong and Macau and 25,000 permits to Taiwan, from January 16th to February 12th.

Outbound tourists amounted to 53,000 and UAE was the destination with the greatest growth.

Outbound travel was popular among Chongqing people during the Spring Festival holiday. Outbound tourists amounted to 53,000 during the 7-day holiday, up 6.3% from last year. Until the second day of Chinese New Year, it was still the peak time of travel. Over 10,000 Chongqing people left China. More and more people went abroad on the eve of Chinese New Year and the first day of Chinese New Year, amounting to 6,532 and 8,155 respectively.

Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Laos, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia, US, Australia, UAE and Cambodia were the top 15 destinations favored by Chongqing people; they attracted 93.4% of the Chongqing tourists. It was the first time that the number of tourists to Hong Kong increased in recent years, up 10% from last year. The number of tourists to Taiwan continuously declined, with a drop of 23%. Other destinations, like UAE (69%), Singapore (52%), US (45%), Malaysia (35%), Cambodia (35%) and Macau (22%), all had growth in tourist numbers. (Translated by Xu Mengmiao, Fathom Language Limited)