Tourism boom tipped for May Day break

Foreign visitors leave the Palace Museum in Beijing on Friday. (WANG XIN/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Travel agencies and tourism experts said they are bullish about the tourism market's performance during the upcoming May Day holiday, with both domestic and outbound tourism visits projected to boom during the period.

Their confidence is supported by strong tourism consumption figures logged in the first quarter. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said the number of domestic tourist visits reached some 1.8 billion in the first three months, an increase of 26.4 percent year-on-year, leading to tourism-related consumption of about 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion), surging 18.6 percent on a yearly basis.

A five-day vacation starting next Thursday, the May Day holiday is the last long holiday in China in the first half of the year. Based on tourism bookings to date for the break, many travel agencies expect domestic tourism market performance to outperform that of each of the previous two years.

Travel portal Tuniu said that by mid-April, tourism bookings on the platform linked to domestic destinations had increased by 100 percent compared to the same period last year.

Qi Chunguang, vice-president of Tuniu, said domestic long-distance and overseas short-distance tours have shown strong growth. Self-driving and self-guided tours will continue to see remarkable increases as the holiday approaches.

Travel services provider Qunar said tourism to smaller cities, counties and towns is showing an uptrend, especially among young travelers seeking unique experiences, with top destinations that are lesser-known but trendy including Pingtan county, Fujian province; Yangshuo, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region; and Anji county, Zhejiang province.

"I wish to go to a place without crowds over the holiday. It's a good time to escape from work and I will let myself be fully immersed in nature," said Li Miao, 31, from Shanghai, who will spend four days and three nights in Anji — famous for beautiful countryside scenes and well-designed homestays — over the holiday.

Travel agencies and tourism experts also placed high hopes on the performance of outbound and inbound tourism activity during the holiday.

Trip.com said the booking volume for its car rental services at overseas destinations is expected to surge 25 percent year-on-year over the holiday. Popular overseas destinations remain those with shorter travel times, such as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore. In addition, more destinations — such as Qatar, Austria and Kazakhstan — are emerging as trending options thanks to optimized visa policies, increased flights and more air routes, said the group.

"My husband and I will ask for an extra two days' leave and have a seven-day break for our trip to Norway," said Song Haiyan, 34, from Beijing, who will leave for the country on Thursday. She said that as May is not a traditional travel peak season in Norway, taking a trip there now is an economical choice for them.

Trip.com said inbound tourism will also enjoy an increase over the holiday thanks to the optimized entry and tax refund policies. Videos promoting recent trips in China by YouTube star Darren Jason Watkins Jr — also known as IShowSpeed — who boasts 39.2 million subscribers, have gone viral among travelers globally, the group added.