According to Ctrip, the number of Chinese tourists during the May Day holiday will exceed the same period in 2019, reaching 200 million. It’s a new high in five years. Meanwhile, the overall outbound tourism orders has increased by over 18 times year-on-year.
However, travel costs have also increased accordingly. All of this cannot stop the enthusiasm for traveling. The China Tourism Research Institute predicted in February that the number of domestic tourists will be about 4.55 billion in 2023. It will be a year-on-year increase of about 80%. As a result, it will bring a domestic tourism revenue of about 4 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 95%.
Domestic travel orders in May Day Holiday hit a new high in five years
Not only did it hit a new high in volume, but this year’s ‘May Day’ booking wave came particularly early. According to Meituan, as of April 10, domestic tourism orders have increased by about 200% compared to the same period in 2019. Among them, the cumulative booking volume of accommodation has remained at the same level as April 25, 2019. We conclude that the accommodation booking trend is about two weeks ahead of schedule.
According to Air Travel Service, as of April 10th, the number of flight reservations for the May Day holiday has far exceeded that of the same period last year. The number of flight reservations for popular destinations such as Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Chongqing, and Hangzhou has increased significantly. The year-on-year increase is over six times. Among them, the booking volume of air tickets for Guangzhou and Chongqing has increased by about 10 times year-on-year. DDC finds that most popular destinations are traditional tourist cities, which also indicates the return of mass tourism.
Outbound travel bookings increased by 18 times year-on-year
According to Ctrip data, as of April 6th, the overall booking volume of outbound tourism products in mainland China has increased by over 18 times year-on-year; The search volume for outbound flights has increased by over 9 times compared to last year.
Among them, tourists from Guangdong, Shanghai, and Zhejiang have the highest willingness to leave the country. The top ten popular destinations for outbound travel are Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Macau, the United States, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
At the same time, many countries have relaxed entry restrictions on Chinese tourists. On April 9, Australia announced that it would cancel the pre departure COVID-19 inspection requirements for passengers from China as of March 11. According to Qunar data, direct flights to Australia are available from March to April in Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xiamen, and Guangzhou.
With the continuous recovery of international flights and the increase of pilot destinations for outbound team tours in the future, the outbound tourism market will experience further growth. It is expected that there will be a wave of passenger flow peak in the outbound tourism market before and after the May Day holiday.
With the sharp increase in demand, prices on the supply side have skyrocketed.
According to data provided by Qunar platform for one traveler, as of April 12, the average paid price of hotels has increased by 30% compared to the same period in 2019. Users tend to shop around and choose the hotel with the highest cost-effectiveness.