Travel bookings surge as holidays approach

The number of travel booking increased significantly as the Qingming and May Day holidays approach, Chinanews.com reported on Tuesday.

Minsu (a Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast establishment) in the suburbs are in high demand. Data from the travel portal Fliggy showed that the bookings for minsu grew 54 percent from a year earlier in nearly a month as the number of ticket bookings for flowers viewing surged.

Some popular scenic spots are also reporting "short supply" as the Qingming holiday comes. Reservations to sightseeing area are hot and accommodations limited, said the news website, citing an employee at Gubei Water Town in Beijing.

Domestic travel demand in the spring season has continued its strong recovery since the Spring Festival holiday, and is expected to hit a new peak during the upcoming May Day holiday, said Shuai Mengting, in charge of Fliggy spring outing project.

According to online travel platform Ctrip, the overall domestic travel bookings have surged 390 percent year-on-year, and the domestic air ticket bookings have jumped 292 percent year-on-year during the May Day holiday. Among the domestic tourism orders, the "post-80s" generation accounted for 41 percent.

Megacities have become the top destinations for many tourists this year. According to Ctrip, the top 10 domestic travel destinations during the May Day holiday are Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Changsha, Wuhan, Chongqing, and Qingdao.

In addition, some tourists have set their sights overseas. With the outbound group travel resumption and the destination re-expansion, the demand for outbound travel is rapidly increasing.

Data from Fliggy showed that the number of international air ticket booking rose 46 percent year-on-year during nearly a month, and the number of visa applications increased by nearly 7 times. The popular destinations within the "4-hour flying" are Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Tourism's strong recovery will have a positive impact on the civil aviation industry. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, a total of 169 domestic and foreign airlines plan to operate passenger and cargo flights 117,222 a week during the summer and autumn flight season, seeing an increase of 35.5 percent compared with the same flight season in 2019.

As per Ctrip, the international flight fares are seeing a significant downward trend since the new season start, with the average cross-border ticket price falling by 11 percent compared with it in February.

Moreover, some popular routes, such as Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Guangzhou, still have tickets under 1,000 yuan ($145.3) available for booking although the air ticket price showing a significant increase during the Qingming and May Day holidays.