BEIJING: “I was holding my breath and clicking the screen very quickly. I grabbed the ticket in just a couple of seconds, then all the tickets sold out,” said Li Yufang, 29, who bought a high-speed train ticket from Beijing to Huangshan, Anhui province, on Wednesday for the May Day holiday.
“It was like the Spring Festival holiday, like all the Chinese people holding their phones grabbing tickets, which was crazy. And I can’t relax now because I have to grab myself a return ticket.”
On Wednesday morning, train tickets to some hot domestic destinations sold out in a few minutes. People are allowed to book train tickets 15 days before departure and Wednesday was the first day for booking train tickets for the five-day May Day holiday, which will begin on May 1.
The busy train booking system shows people are enthusiastic about holiday travel, and travel agencies and tourism industry insiders expect a travel boom over the holiday.
Travel portal Trip.com Group said that, as of Tuesday, searches for domestic hotels and flight tickets on the platform had seen steady growth, and searches for flight tickets heading to overseas destinations had surged 56 percent year-on-year.
Prices of flight tickets have risen because of that demand. Online travel agency Qunar said the cost of flights to domestic destinations on its platform averaged around 990 yuan ($137), up 60 percent from last month.
“We see strong travel demand this May Day holiday and some flights may be in short supply as the holiday approaches,” said Xiao Peng, an analyst from Qunar.
“Customers with clear travel plans can purchase the tickets as soon as possible, while those who choose to visit a random place for the holiday can wait and see for possible discounts.”
Travel agencies said long-distance trips are in favor for the holiday, and they expect some overseas destinations to do well.
Domestically, the most popular cities remain traditional top destinations including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing. Other less-known places, such as Tianshui in Gansu province, which is famous for its hotpot soup with scarlet chili oil, have also become popular destinations for the holiday since their cultures and cuisines went viral online, Trip.com Group said. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
