Chinese New Year may not have the countdowns and party hats of its January 1st counterpart, but what it does have is a mass travel exodus in Asia and a strong sense of mysticism tied to its 12 zodiac animals. Much like the Western horoscope, a person's Chinese zodiac animal sets out predictions in areas like money, family, romance, health and yes, even travel. However, the key difference is that Western zodiac signs focus on the day a person was born, while Chinese zodiac animals correspond with the year of birth.
For example, 2013 marks the year of the snake, and according to Paul Ng, a philosopher and geomancer, Feb. 10 means the start of a boom time in the travel industry.
"This year is favourable to [travel by water] because it's the [year of the] water snake. I've said that cruise boats will do well this year and the aviation industry will do well as well," Ng told HuffPost Canada Travel, adding with a laugh, "they will make a lot of money this year."
Ng wouldn't go into detail as to how he formulates his predictions, but said it all comes down to "many levels of mathematical equations." Readers can take his predictions with a grain of salt, but if history is any indication, the former University of Waterloo computer scientist tends to be right more often than he is wrong. In 2011, for example, he predicted the devastating fires in California, the Canadian government's election (and eventual winner) and a booming housing market for Toronto, according to The Star.
In addition to his predictions on natural disasters (travellers may want to avoid Japan, China and central USA in 2013 thanks to earthquakes and tornadoes), Ng also shared with HuffPost Canada Travel some of the personality traits associated with each zodiac animal and what travel has in store for each one. Readers unfamiliar with their zodiac sign can learn more about their animal here.
