BEIJING: China’s tourism industry will continue to surge as people show a strong desire to travel during the May Day holiday despite it being almost a month away, according to industry insiders.
On Monday, authorities announced that the May Day holiday this year will start on April 29 and end on May 3, lasting five days.
With the last major holiday falling in January, industry insiders and tourism operators predict strong demand for travel for the May Day break.
“The suppressed traveling desire will be unleashed at the May Day break, with both domestic and overseas destinations benefiting from the huge travel and consumption demand,” said Fang Zexi, an analyst from travel portal Trip.com.
According to the group, the number of bookings for May Day holiday trips as of Thursday had overtaken that in 2019 — which had four days off and was before COVID-19 hit. The number is up sevenfold compared with the same period last year.
Overseas bookings on its platform had increased by 18-fold year-on-year as of Thursday.
During the May Day holiday last year, overseas trips were under strict control with group tours to overseas destinations suspended due to epidemic control policies.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
