The week-long Labor Day holiday boosted the tourism market of China's neighboring countries who belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"China's golden week holidays not only give impetus to the domestic tourism market, but have also brought 'gold' to neighboring countries' tourism trade," said Tan Zhengfei, an official with the ports management office of Pingxiang city in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have maintained their popularity as destinations for Chinese tourists. The purchase of air tickets to the three countries began in early April.

"Traveling to the three countries only costs about 3,000 yuan (about 374 U.S. dollars)," said Chen Sheng, who planned to travel to the three nations with his family.

Besides the traditional tourists attractions, now more and more Chinese would also like to travel to other ASEAN nations such as the Philippines and Vietnam.

Statistics show that about 100,000 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines last year, up 200 percent on the previous year, and the multiple choices of transport modes to Vietnam were also convenient for Chinese tourists.

Analysts attributed the tourism craze to the establishment of closer China-ASEAN cooperation in the tourism field.

Xiao Jiangang, director of the Guangxi tourism administration, said introducing tourism projects has become the important content of the China-ASEAN expo, which has been held annually in Guangxi since 2004.

Guangxi, as a neighboring region for ASEAN countries, has signed an agreement for tourism cooperation with Vietnam to build high-quality travel routes, Xiao said.

Source: Xinhua