Scenic sites enjoy May Day boom

2021-05-11 10:08:32 , Source : China Daily

Clockwise from top left: Huashan Mountain in Shaanxi province, People's Park in Xi'ning, Qinghai province, Xiangyang Ancient Town in Hubei province, and Mingsha Sand Dunes in Dunhuang, Gansu province, were crowded with visitors during the May Day holiday. XINHUA/CHINA DAILY

Surge in domestic holiday bookings suggests rebound in confidence, Yang Feiyue reports.

Though Bai Fenglun had a tiring May Day holiday, he felt happy and fulfilled. During the five-day break, Bai only slept three to five hours a day. During the day, the 36-year-old tour guide took tourists to meet Yang Jide, one of the locals who first found the Terracotta Warriors in Shaanxi province's Xi'an, and relive the memories of Yang's discovery. Then, they would go deep into rural areas to experience distinctive folk customs and savor gourmet food. The itinerary started at 7 am and ended at 9 pm.

"It was the best May Day holiday we have had over the years," says Bai, who has been working as a tour guide in his hometown Xi'an for over a decade.

Bai works with about 120 tour guides in the city and they offer customized tours to families and friends traveling in groups. During the holiday, they gave tours to 700 to 1,000 tourists each day.

"Usually, we will see a surge in travel inquiries a few days ahead of the holiday, but this year it began in early April," Bai says. He even received late night calls from potential travelers who were not able to procure tickets for transport or to scenic spots during the holiday.

He believes this business boom is partly due to the fact that many travelers want to avoid traveling with a big group of strangers and preferring intimate and quality time with their families and friends.

According to figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, China's tourism market witnessed a strong rebound with a total of 230 million domestic trips made during the holiday, a year-on-year rise of 119.7 percent.

The figure also represented a 103 percent recovery of the tourism industry.

Tourism revenue during the holiday reached 113 billion yuan ($17 billion), up 138 percent year-on-year.

Travel website Trip.com saw a 270 percent rise in bookings, which was a 30 percent increase from the 2019 May Day holiday period.

Air ticket bookings via travel website Qunar increased by 30 percent from 2019, while hotel reservations jumped by 40 percent.

Figures from Qunar also showed that average traveler expenses hit 1,700 yuan, a record high compared with the same holiday period in previous years.

Beijing topped the most popular destinations list in Trip.com.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism says the capital welcomed more than 8.4 million tourists during the holiday.

The figure marked an 81.9 percent surge over the same period last year and a 98.4 percent recovery from 2019.

Beijing's tourism revenue raked in 9.3 billion yuan during the holiday period, an increase of 120 percent over the same period from last year.

Wangfujing, Nanluoguxiang and Shichahai were Beijing's most popular tourist attractions during the holiday, totaling 3.6 million visits.

In Changsha, capital of Hunan province, He Chengyu stayed home during the holiday.

The 19-year-old gave up going out during the holiday after going to a local popular restaurant for lunch, where she found there were about 200 tables ahead of her.

"I might as well come back for dinner," she says jokingly.

Changsha's 39 major tourist attractions received 1.69 million visitors, up 130.3 percent year-on-year.

It also made its way to Trip.com's most popular destinations nationwide and ranked second for night tourism.

Many visitors showed a preference toward exploring the urban landscape of Changsha at night, especially those offering snacks and drinks in the late hours.

Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Wuhan managed to attract large numbers of tourists during the holiday.

Those born in the 1980s and in the 2000s made up the biggest groups of tourists during the holiday. As many people from the '80s generation have become parents, family-oriented destinations were extremely popular. Those born in the 2000s were interested in destinations with historical sites or offering challenging experiences.

Theme parks were also successful in attracting the vacationers.

Shanghai Disneyland, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, Guangzhou's Chimelong Safari Park, and Beijing Happy Valley were especially favored by travelers born in the '80s, according to booking statistics from Trip.com.

The management at Haichang Ocean Park says its hotel rooms were fully booked during the first four days of the holiday. Its entrance ticket bookings were more than doubled when compared with the same period in 2019.

"The improvement in the pandemic situation and the popularity of vaccinations have fueled the enthusiasm of the May Day holiday travelers," says Li Peng, marketing officer with Haichang Ocean Park.

Zhang Zhining, deputy director of Trip.com's strategic studies center, says the recovery of the domestic tourism market suggests a rebound in tourist confidence.

"The traveler demographic is getting obviously younger," Zhang says.

With summer vacations approaching, Zhang predicts that travel packages featuring family, thematic and rural experiences will be quickly booked up.



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