The recently passed Qingming Festival ushered in the first resumption of the tourism boom, from the current tourism market's lively scene, "the hottest ever May Day Golden Week" or already on the way.

With nearly three weeks to go before the May Day Golden Week, big data from various businesses on Ctrip's platform have already highlighted the explosive trend of May Day travel. As of April 14, the number of orders booked through Ctrip for flights, hotels, tickets, and car rentals during the May Day period has achieved positive growth of 23%, 43%, 114%, and 126%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2019, the number of orders booked through Ctrip during the May Day period has achieved positive growth of 23%, 43%, 114%, and 126%. The travel market has truly ushered in an opportunity to explode.

May Day travel is expected to reach 200 million trips

After the trial of Qingming, May Day is expected to recreate the grandeur of the Golden Week of yesteryear. At a recent press conference held by the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism, CDC expert Wu Zunyou said that with the Ruili outbreak under control, China has returned to a situation where there are no locally transmitted cases, suggesting that everyone should go out and have a look during the May Day holiday. Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Research Institute, said the second quarter is traditionally the peak season for traveling and contains three public holidays, including Ching Ming, May Day and Dragon Boat Festival, which are likely to become a strategic turning point in the fight against the epidemic in tourism.

Ctrip Research Institute industry analyst Fang Zexi said, along with the effective control of the domestic epidemic, government departments continue to liberalize travel restrictions, encourage and promote the development of the tourism industry's attitude, the upcoming May Day holiday is expected to usher in an "outbreak of travel", the long-lost "people from the crowd! The "people from the crowd" situation will return again!

23%, 43%, 114%, 126%, from Ctrip's current May Day air tickets, hotels, tickets, car rental orders compared to the significant growth in 2019, this year's May Day travelers are expected to break through the level of May Day 2019 to reach 200 million new high.

The 5-day May Day extended mode has triggered the long pent-up demand for long-distance and long-haul travel. Inter-provincial tours will usher in a major outbreak during the May Day holiday. From the current travel registration situation, May Day travel is dominated by inter-provincial long-distance tours, with about 70% of the crowd choosing inter-provincial tours. Unlike last year, parent-child tours are on the rise, with more than 30% of the current clientele ordering from Ctrip being parent-child families, up 10% from last year.

The price of airfare has risen, and economy class tickets for many flights are hard to come by

How hot is travel during the May 1 Golden Week? From the Ctrip air ticket booking situation, the current May Day in many places, some flights economy class has been sold out. The number of airfare orders has already caught up with the level of the same period in 2019, with an increase of 23%. The average May Day airfare for economy class is 1,021 yuan, exceeding the average price for the same period in 2019.

Shanghai, Beijing, Sanya, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Xiamen, Hangzhou and Shenzhen are among the top 10 travel destinations. In terms of airfare order growth, Yangzhou, Zhoushan, Beihai, Dunhuang, Enshi, Haikou and Sanya became the dark horse destinations on May 1 this year, with airfare orders for Yangzhou, Zhoushan and Beihai increasing by 179%, 142%, and 116%, respectively, compared with 2019.

70% of tourists choose inter-provincial tours on May 1, migratory travel returns

The five-day May 1 long vacation further stimulated the enthusiasm for inter-provincial long-distance travel. The three-day leave program provides unlimited imagination for people planning long-distance travel. Ctrip data shows that more than 70% of the population choose to travel across provinces during the May Day holiday. The golden week "migratory tourism" situation may be repeated.

From the perspective of group tours, as of April 14, the number of people booking inter-provincial group tours on Ctrip platform for the May 1 holiday has increased by nearly six times compared to the same period in April (covering the Qingming Festival).

Unlike previous years when cross-province trips were concentrated in the group mode, this year's May Day car rental self-driving cross-province trips are also very hot. The current booking of car rental orders for May Day trips has reached a 126% increase compared to the same period in 2019, of which nearly 90% are inter-provincial demand. Sanya, Chengdu, Haikou ranked the top three popular destinations, the Great Northwest, as well as Xinjiang, Tibet, car rental orders show "amazing" growth trend, Xining, Yinchuan, Kashgar, Urumqi, Lhasa, car rental orders than the same period in 2019 increased by 198%, 271%, 500%, 367%, and 229%, respectively.

Scenic area restrictions relaxed, lively "scene" will reappear

In the epidemic prevention and control continued to improve the premise, Shanghai, Sichuan, Zhengzhou and other places have launched the abolition of scenic spot flow restriction policy, travel restrictions further disappeared, the May 1 scenic area will be back to the lively "scene"! ". Ctrip data show that as of April 14, the number of people booking scenic area tickets through Ctrip compared to 2019 increased by 114%. Scenic area ticket booking cycle is shorter, it is expected that in the next one or two weeks, ticket booking will usher in the growth of the explosive period.

As for the theme of the trip, theme parks, zoos and flora, museums, exhibition halls, and architecture and humanities are the most popular types of scenic spots for the May Day holiday. The current top ten most popular scenic spots are: Shanghai Disney Resort, Qin Shi Huang Imperial Tomb Museum (Terracotta Warriors and Horses), Guangzhou Changlong Wildlife World, Zhuhai Changlong Ocean Kingdom, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Weizhou Island, Longmen Grottoes, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Gulangyu Island and Hengdian Film and TV City.

"Hotel tourism" continues to lead the new tourism trend

Continuing the "hotel tourism" boom of the Qingming Festival, the hotel booking situation on May 1 is even more encouraging. Ctrip data show that the current hotel orders compared to 2019 has realized a 43% increase, a number of high-star hotels have been difficult to find a room. The corresponding average price of hotel orders has risen, catching up with the average price of the same period in 2019.

The Atlantis Sanya, Moganshan Kaiyuan Senpo Resort & Spa, Huzhou Dragon Dream Animal World Hotel, Hangzhou Kaiyuan Senpo Resort & Spa, Shanghai Toy Story Hotel, Sanya Horizon Resort & Spa, Zhuhai Changlong Penguin Hotel, Changlong Hotel (Guangzhou Changlong Wild Animal World Store), Yangjiang Beiluo Mystic Resort & Spa, and the Beidaihe Alcadia Marina Resort & Spa ranked in the popularity of the May 1 Hotel top ten.

It is worth mentioning that thanks to the rich thematic activities and cultural experiences of high-star hotels, hotels are gradually becoming travel destinations for tourists. From the hotel booking trend of Ctrip platform, the orders of 4 and 5 diamond high-star hotels accounted for more than 50% during the May 1 period, and more and more tourists are willing to buy high-quality travel services in high-star hotels.

Quality leisure tours are popular, private tours increased by 533%

If you want to be lazy and don't want to do it yourself, and you want to travel independently in a group to enjoy a private trip, choosing private tours is more than suitable. The epidemic has accelerated the development of the scale of private tours, the family as a unit, a single group of private tours of the car special guide has led the recovery and growth of the market with the group, but also verified the high-end demand for the return of the huge market potential in the country.

Ctrip data show that the number of people who signed up for private tours on Ctrip's platform during the May Day holiday increased by 533% compared to 2019, with an average per capita cost of RMB 4,800, an increase of more than 30% compared to 2019. Among them, the number of people who signed up for 5-diamond private tours accounted for 76%, compared with 5-diamond high-end spending tourists in 2019, a significant increase of more than four times.

It is understood that Ctrip has increased its investment in the research and development and production of the private group category this year, and the single self-operated business has added more than 100 private group suppliers this year, and the number of private group products on the whole platform has realized a 15.7-fold increase. According to a report by Econometrics, quality leisure tours represented by high-star hotels and boutique private tours will overtake the mass leisure tours segment in 2024, and its market size will reach 3.8 trillion yuan (0.6 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025.

Unlocking new ways to play, Ctrip presents "travel blind box" and dual-city tours on May 1

What are the new ways to play on the May 1 holiday? In addition, Ctrip will create a dual-city travel scenario inspired by the boom in medium- and long-term travel, launching a rich assortment of dual-city travel products to provide tourists with the best route options for dual-city trips. It is worth mentioning that Ctrip is the first to introduce the wine + machine blind box package. Starting from April 19, customized travel blind boxes for more than 20 cities across the country will be sold on the Ctrip platform for a limited time. Users purchasing blind boxes priced at 699, 999 and 1,299 respectively will receive a one-night stay at a selected hotel, and an air ticket subsidy for a successful booking.

During the May 1 period, in the crowded Hainan, tourists can also find another way to explore the experience of different tourism + music tide play, through Ctrip booking tickets for the music festival under the Modern Sky, the music festival site to participate in the Ctrip community RV camping area of the posting activities to obtain gifts. Whether it's the young hip-hop oriented "Hainan Wanning Riyuewan M_DSK Music Festival"; or to bring children to participate in the middle-class parent-child oriented "small strawberry parent-child music festival", can bring visitors fresh and interesting unparalleled experience.

Source: chinadaily.com.cn