The China National Tourism Administration said that the disappearance of flight MH370 led to a decline in the number of Chinese tourists heading to Malaysia during the May Day holiday compared to previous years, China News Service reported on Sunday.

The "Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand" travel itinerary is usually popular with Chinese nationals but many seemed to shun Malaysia - even though some travel agencies offered discounts for this route during the holiday. Several agencies changed the itinerary to "Singapore-Vietnam-Thailand".

The Chinese travel market experienced another boom during the short break as many Chinese people chose to travel off the mainland for just a few days, with preferred destinations such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Bali and Japan.

In addition, Beijing welcomed 5.5 million visitors, a similar number compared to last year, and Tianjin attracted 2 million tourists, a year on year increase of 16.4%.