China’s Golden Week Holiday is one of the busiest periods for human migration in the modern world.

Many Chinese people take this opportunity to travel abroad in one of the tourist industry’s busiest times of the year. This huge wave of travelers typically provides a serious boost to the tourist economies of locations like Bangkok and Moscow. Thailand in particular benefits from this kind of tourism, as around 250,000 Chinese tourists were expected to visit Thailand by the end of the Golden Week. This is a 38% increase from the previous year. This increase in Chinese tourism also comes as good news following a boat disaster in Phuket that led to a decline in bookings. That boat disaster ended up killing 47 tourists in July of 2018.

Thailand has been promoting further Chinese tourism into the country by waiving visa fees for Chinese travelers. However, Chinese tourism isn’t only helping Thailand. Chinese tourists around the world contribute to local economies through purchases of local specialty items, food, and luxury brand items. The beneficiaries of Chinese spending power are around the world, but Japan, the US, the UK, and Italy are particularly attractive to Chinese tourists.

Despite concerns over a slowing Chinese economy, Golden Week is expected to come to a close as another success. Economic conditions are keeping some would-be travelers at home, but countries like Thailand always offer entertaining and affordable vacations. The biggest loser for this year’s Golden Week is Hong Kong. Hong Kong typically receives many mainland tourists this time of year, but the ongoing unrest has scared tourists off in recent months.