Boom in travel expected for May Day holidays

As the Qingming Festival holidays came to a close, Chinese travel companies have reported increased bookings and inquiries for the upcoming May Day holidays, signaling continued momentum for the sector.

Cities including Beijing, Xiamen and Nanjing are the most popular domestic destinations by far for the upcoming May Day holidays, with a relatively high number of inquiries, noted Tang Xiaofei, a staff member at a travel agency in East China's Zhejiang Province, as reported by China Media Group.

Prices for short-distance travel routes around the five-day holidays are expected to rise by 30-40 percent compared with the usual, with airfares 50 percent higher than usual, Tang said.

In addition, as travelers to Thailand, Singapore and Jeju Island in South Korea can enjoy visa-free policies, with more convenient exit procedures, outbound airfares have risen.

According to Tang, destinations for the May Day holidays are mainly concentrated in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, or visa-free countries. Most airfares for those places are up about 30 percent.

The growth in bookings and inquiries reflects a booming tourism market in China. During the recent Qingming Festival, there was a surge in tourism consumption, with both the number of trips and spending surpassing figures from 2019.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 119 million domestic trips have been made during the holidays, rising 11.5 percent from the same period in 2019, with spending of 53.95 billion yuan ($7.46 billion), up 12.7 percent.

The robust consumer spending, along with other positive figures, led institutions to raise their forecasts and estimates for China's economic growth. For instance, Citi recently raised its estimate of China's first-quarter GDP expansion to 5.1 percent, and upgraded its full-year growth forecast to 5 percent from the previous 4.6 percent, giving credit to "recent positive data and policy delivery".

China International Capital Corp, a major Chinese investment management and financial services company, raised its estimate of first-quarter GDP growth to 5-5.5 percent from about 4.5 percent previously.

Booming tourism and consumption are highlights of China's economy, reflecting a healthy economic status, said Xu Gao, chief economist with Bank of China International, during an interview with the Global Times on Tuesday.

China's central government has been releasing positive signals since the end of last year to stabilize confidence and boost consumption, Xu added.

One of the latest signals was a meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday, where he emphasized the government's focus on stabilizing expectations, growth and employment, while expressing confidence in maintaining sustained and healthy economic development.