China expects travel spree during upcoming May Day holiday

China is poised to see a boom in travel demand during the upcoming May Day holiday, as reflected by the remarkable growth in travel bookings.

Booking data from several online travel agencies shows that Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Xi'an, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Changsha are popular tourist destinations during the five-day holiday period from May 1 to May 5.

Aerial photo shows visitors crowding around a night market selling street food in Zhengding county, north China's Hebei Province. (Photo/Wu Zhiwei)

Cities like Tianshui, Xuzhou, Zibo, Hefei, Nanchang, Diqing, Jingdezhen, Shijiazhuang, Yantai and Huangshan are seeing the fastest growth in hotel bookings.

Cities with a unique cultural charm, trendy style, coastal scenery and distinctive cuisine have enthralled visitors.

The country's county-level tourism market is also showing notable growth. Pingtan in southeast China's Fujian Province, Yangshuo in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Anji, Chun'an and Deqing in east China's Zhejiang Province, as well as Wuyuan in east China's Jiangxi Province and Zhengding in north China's Hebei Province are among the in-demand county destinations.

Tourists watch a folk performance in Mochou village, Zhongxiang city, central China's Hubei Province. (Photo/Yang Dong)

According to data from Ctrip, China's online travel agency, hotel bookings for the May Day holiday in the county-level tourism market have soared 68 percent year on year, while bookings for attraction tickets have skyrocketed 151 percent from the same period last year.

People born in the 2000s have emerged as a driving force in China's tourism market. Statistics from Ctrip reveal that travel orders for the holiday from post-2000s visitors have accounted for 31 percent of travel bookings, up 20 percent year on year.

Bookings for self-driving tours for the holiday on Ctrip have surged 40 percent year on year, with cities like Urumqi, Yining, Chengdu, Sanya, Kashgar, Shanghai, Xining, Lanzhou, Kunming and Haikou as popular destinations.

Visitors visit the science fiction paradise of the Shougang Park, a steel mill-turned cultural and sports complex in Beijing. (Photo/He Luqi)

China's online travel platform Mafengwo said inquiries and bookings for outbound travel products for the holiday spiked in the recent week, with visa-free destinations becoming preferred choices for Chinese tourists. Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, the U.S., Indonesia, Australia, France, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were among the top outbound destinations.

Inbound tourism booking orders for the holiday have surged 130 percent from the same period last year. Major overseas tourist source markets include Japan, the U.S., South Korea, Canada, Malaysia, Thailand, the UK, Australia, Russia and France. The popular destinations for foreign visitors encompass Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Xi'an and Kunming.