China"s tourism sector is set to roar back for the upcoming May Day holidays in more than three years, which has been proved by an upsurge in bookings, with more than 240 million trips estimated by industry insiders.

Consumption is set to further rebound amid the travel boom and estimated to contribute more than 120 billion yuan ($17.35 billion) in consumption.

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This May Day holidays mark the first long holiday in China after the Chinese New Year following its optimization in COVID-19 response.

Tourism boom “off the scale”

The May Day holidays this year will fall on Saturday, lasting till May 3. China"s railway systems will manage 120 million passenger trips from Thursday to May 4, an increase of 20 percent from 2019 and the highest level in history, data from China Railway showed on Thursday.

The China Railway said on Saturday that they planned to add over 1,500 trains during April 27 to May 4 and the national daily operation number will reach about 10,500 during the holidays.

Some 69.08 million train tickets have already been sold as of 8 am on Thursday.

According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), flight ticket booking volume during the May Day holidays has already crossed 6 million. CAAC predicted that China"s aviation sector will transport about 9 million passengers nationwide during the holidays.

For the domestic market, multiple airline companies will operate a combined 65,000 flights equal to about 12 million seats, which surpassed the transport capacity supply in the same period in 2019. During the holiday, the number of domestic daily flights operated is expected to reach 13,000, up 10 percent over 2019 levels. Prices of domestic flight tickets will be 30 percent more expensive than 2019, according to VariFlight.

On Chinese online travel service Trip.com, the search for domestic flights for the May Day holidays has surged more than 290 percent year-on-year and recovered 110 percent compared with 2019, while the search for accommodation exceeded over nine times compared with a year ago and jumped nearly 200 percent with 2019 as of April 20.

As for the outbound travel, the first travel peak in more than three years during the upcoming holidays is expected. Search for outbound flights on Trip.com jumped to 120 percent of the level during the same period in 2019 before the pandemic, while searches for overseas hotels recovered to 70 percent.

For those who prefer a road trip, the Ministry of Transport has cautioned that traffic on China"s expressway network will hit a record on Saturday as travelers set off on the first day of the five-day holiday.

During the holiday, it is estimated that the average daily traffic flow on China"s highways will reach from 53.3 million to 54.3 million vehicle trips, a year-on-year increase of 73 to 77 percent.

Domestic tour orders are on track to match the 2019 level.

Data from Trip.com shows that as of April 16, domestic tour bookings for the holiday have increased by over 12 times year-on-year, reaching the same level as in 2019 and outbound tour bookings up by over 18 times from a year earlier.

Booking sites for popular scenic spots, such as Beijing"s Summer Palace and the Badaling section of the Great Wall showed they were sold out of tickets for the first few days of the holiday.

As of April 10, comprehensive bookings for domestic accommodations, transportation, and scenic spot tickets for the holiday have increased by about 200 percent compared to the same period in 2019, according to data from Meituan and Dazhong Dianping, a Chinese version of Yelp.

Chinese online travel agency Tuniu.com said that roughly 40 percent of its users have booked long-distance trips for the five-day holiday and 25 percent selected trips lasting more than five days.

According to Tuniu, among the popular domestic destinations, Sanya, Dali, Lijiang, Chengdu, Xi"an, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, and Qingdao rank among the top.

Demand on Minsu, or homestay, also speeds up with the upcoming holiday. As of April 17, bookings of Minsu (a Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast establishment) surged twofold compared with same period of 2019, with average room price reaching 534 yuan ($77.64), according to data from online Minsu booking platform Tujia.

The signature representation is Zibo in Shandong, a city that has recently garnered attention for its barbecue, and the bookings surged by 441 percent on Trip.com compared with the same period in 2019.

On the other hand, short- or medium-distance family trips and leisure trips to rural areas and more niche destinations will be the major traveling pattern for the holiday.

The order scale for rural tours on Trip.com for the upcoming holidays has recovered to 137 percent of the same period in 2019, while bookings for accommodation in rural areas on tujia.com accounted for nearly 40 percent of the platform"s total orders, data from the companies showed.

Chinese market consultancy iiMedia Research Institute said that the travel pattern will further elevate the consumption for matching products covering sectors from catering, accommodations to souvenirs, stressing the holiday as a crucial climax for the consumption boom in the first half of 2023 while paving the way for further recovery.

Outbound travel in recovery

In March, China resumed outbound group tours to 40 more selected countries after resuming overseas group tours to 20 countries in February.

In the latest move, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that China will no longer require a negative PCR test result for travelers entering the country.

Within one hour after the announcement, searches for cross-border flights on online travel platform Fliggy surged by 400 percent.

Airlines are speeding up the resumption of international and regional routes. Data shows that the number of cross-border flights in January has recovered to 10 percent of the same period in 2019, and to 15 percent in February.

The May Day holiday will usher in the first peak of growth for outbound tourism this year, further driving the recovery of airlines and local service capabilities, said Sun Jie, CEO of Trip.com Group.

Figures from Trip.com show that during the first 10 days of this month, the bookings for overseas travel increased eighteenfold year-on-year, and searches for flight tickets for the upcoming holiday rose ninefold on the platform compared with the previous year.

With the holiday fast approaching, more and more Chinese consumers are expected to embark on outbound journeys, with Southeast Asia, New Zealand and the Maldives remaining the top destinations.

In addition, with the recovery of international air capacity, bookings to the Middle East and Africa, such as the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Egypt and South Africa, as well as in European directions such as Russia, Switzerland, France and Italy, have also seen rapid growth.

Also, Hong Kong is gearing up for a massive influx of visitors during the upcoming holiday, with about 4.61 million people expected to enter or leave the city during the Chinese mainland"s first long break since the resumption of cross-boundary travel.

The busiest day for outbound travelers will be Saturday, with 359,000 people expected to leave the city while the largest crowd of incoming visitors — 422,000 people — may come on Monday, according to the Immigration Department. Hong Kong hotel room rates have surged by as much as five times in the run-up to “golden week” holiday.

However, outbound tourism is just at the early stage of the recovery due to factors such as limited flight capacity and visa issues, industry analysts say.

On Sunday, the number of international passenger flights connecting China and overseas destinations reached nearly 1,000, representing just 30 percent of levels seen in the same period of 2019, said TravelSky Holding Co Ltd, a Beijing-based State-owned travel information provider.

But that has not stopped tourism authorities of many countries coming to China for the first time in three years to stage events to attract Chinese tourists.

In recent weeks, tourism authorities from countries such as Nepal and Malaysia came to China and traveled around the country to promote their tourist attractions. Some, including the tourism authorities of Canada"s Ontario province, chose to tie up with Chinese firms to carry out promotional activities.

Meanwhile, as part of the Hong Kong SAR government"s "Hello Hong Kong" initiative, over 500,000 free round-trip airline tickets are available for grabs for global travelers. These gratis air tickets are sponsored by Hong Kong International Airport and exclude taxes and surcharges, and the hope is they will attract more visitors to the city.

Consumption in full gear

The tourism sector already started warming up long before the holidays, and the government"s support for stimulating consumption and backing the real economy contribute to the rapid rebound of the sector.

In addition to the central government, local governments nationwide have been implementing measures tackling consumption recovery, which has helped to restore the market confidence on top of the nation"s beyond-expectation economic performance in the first quarter.

For instance, multiple cities and provinces in China have been issuing consumption vouchers. East China"s Shandong Province released 528 million yuan worth of coupons, boosting consumption to 10.2 billion yuan, according to media reports.

Amid the huge consumption potential, various shopping festivals and events will be arranged for the holidays. China"s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) along with the Foreign Ministry and other government agencies will organize an online shopping festival from Friday to May 12, focusing on promoting products from Central Asia and ASEAN members.

The commerce ministry said on Thursday that shopping events organized locally will inject more vitality during the holiday.

And if you were not a fan of travel or shopping, you can always rely on a good movie-going trip.

Nearly 20 films have been announced for the May Day holiday period.This is the highest number of films to hit cinemas at once in recent years. Genres of the holiday films run the gamut from action and crime to comedy and suspense films.

The latest hit Japanese animated sports film “The First Slam Dunk”, a "nostalgia trigger" as netizens put it, has earned big at the Chinese mainland box office, bringing in more than 390 million yuan ($56.5 million) in its first five days, according to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan.According to IMAX China, during its opening weekend, “The First Slam Dunk” grossed a stunning 38 million yuan at the IMAX box office.

Among the many films such as crime film “The Procurator” and star-studded film “Flashover”, action film “Born to Fly” is the most "highly anticipated" movie.As of Thursday, “Born to Fly”, featuring a stellar cast, has raked in over 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) from online ticket booking revenues, according to the box office live tracker Beacon.

Big-budgeted “Chinese Youth: Me and My Youth” consists of three stand-alone stories that recount the struggles of young people in different eras. And the only comedy that will take part in the May Day holiday movie season, “Godspeed” tells a story about a road trip by a -daughter, her boyfriend and her parents.

2023年“五一”作為疫情完全結束后的第一個小長假，火熱態勢早已擋不住。

目前，攜程、飛豬、去哪兒等平臺數據均顯示，國內機票、酒店、景區門票等產品的訂單量都超過了2019年同期水平。預期的國內日均航班量和日均旅客運輸量也已超過2019年同期水平。

攜程近日預測，今年“五一”假期旅游人次有望突破2019年同期水平，達到2億人次，創五年來新高，其中，內地出境游產品整體預訂量增幅最醒目，同比增長超18倍。相較于前三年的就近活動，今年國內長線旅游訂單有著驚人的增長。此外，高端旅游消費力依然堅挺，自駕游成為年輕人首選。機票、火車票價格的上漲，導致選擇性價比更高的自駕游出行的人們越來越多，租車行業火熱。

“五一”旅游再現“人從眾”

飛豬近日發布的《2023年“五一”出游風向標》顯示，截至目前，國內機票、酒店、景區門票、跟團游等均已超過2019年同期，累計預訂量同比去年勁增超10倍，中長線游訂單占比高達9成以上。長線旅游成為今年“五一”假期游客首選。

中長線旅行的火爆，帶動鐵路、民航等交通全面復蘇，客運量或超過2019年。中國民航局4月21日對外披露，從機票預訂數據看，今年“五一”假期訂票已超600萬人次，旅客出行需求提前釋放，市場熱度基本恢復至2019年同期水平。預計“五一”假期民航將運輸旅客約900萬人次。航旅縱橫數據顯示，“五一”假期國內計劃客運航班量約6.9萬班，較去年同期實際執行客運航班量增長超3倍。國內民航旅客量預計比去年同期實際旅客量增長近3.6倍。截至4月23日，“五一”假期國內航司的出入境機票預訂量超35萬，環比上周增長近28%。

鐵路的情況類似。很多網友反映“五一”假期前一日火車票多條線路已售罄。在去哪兒平臺上，截至4月14日16時，北京-長沙、北京-武漢、上海-廣州等多條熱門線路已售罄，近期開通的多城市直達香港高鐵線路，僅有少量余票。

其實國鐵集團今年“五一”的運力安排已與2019年持平。據國鐵集團客運部負責人介紹，截至4月22日14時，鐵路部門已經售出“五一”運輸期間火車票4657萬張，北京至上海、成都至西安、廣州至南寧等多條線路車票緊俏。為了滿足出行需求，國鐵集團將在4月27日至5月4日假日期間安排日均開行旅客列車10500列，增開1500多列，其中包括夜間高鐵102列。國鐵集團客運部負責人還透露，考慮到長線旅游火爆，鐵路部門也會增加長途運力投放，增開跨鐵路局長途旅客列車156列。而熱門旅游城市方向的短途列車也會增開，上海局、成都局和濟南局三個地方鐵路將會增開396列旅客列車，其中包括濟南到淄博每日82列動車組。

此外，自駕游也很火，攜程租車訂單量同比增長超八成。福州、蘭州、大連、威海、南昌、伊寧、黃山、汕頭等地租車訂單增速排名靠前，成為今年“五一”自駕新晉目的地，這些地區的租車訂單較2021年“五一”均增長超200%。受到今年“五一”長線異地出游趨勢影響，今年攜程平臺租車單均價較去年翻倍，游客用車時長和用車出行距離都進一步增長。

近期在社交媒體上爆火的“特種兵旅游”仍將影響旅游市場，過半數游客在“五一”假期預訂兩個或兩個以上目的地城市的旅游和出行產品。三亞、大理等老牌旅游城市發揮穩定，依舊是眾多游客的首選目的地，淄博等新興旅游城市表現優異，或將迎史上最火假期。

隨著出行人數暴漲，多地酒店出現了“一房難求”的現象。同程旅行發布的“五一”假期旅行消費預測數據顯示，大理古城、鳳凰古城、黃山等熱門景點周邊，均有不少酒店出現滿房情況。演唱會、音樂節等演藝活動所在地周邊的酒店預訂量同比暴增超20倍。

在住宿的選擇上，青旅旅社、經濟型酒店、民宿等住宿類型最受出游人群的關注，其中，受年輕人喜愛的青旅旅社居于榜單首位，搜索量周環比增長超230%。

高品質、重舒適的旅游成為部分出行游客的選擇。據飛豬數據顯示，高星酒店預訂量同比去年增長超14倍。

親子游也備受關注。同程旅行平臺上，“五一”假期相關的親子游搜索熱度環比上漲97%，上海迪士尼度假區、北京環球度假區、廣州動物園、珠海長隆海洋王國、廣州長隆野生動物世界是目前“五一”假期搜索熱度最高的親子游景區。

出境游復蘇進行時

今年“五一”假期最大的看點是出境旅游。數據顯示，內地出境游預訂同比增長超18倍，境外跟團游報名量較4月初增長157%；攜程機票數據顯示，“五一”假期出境機票搜索量同比去年增長超9倍。而與2019年同期相比，出境游機票搜索量恢復至120%，出境游酒店搜索熱度同比2019年恢復至約70%。

從機票數據來看，出境客源地主要來自北上廣深一線城市及部分省會城市。尤其是上海，貢獻了30%的出境訂單。此外，蘇州、無錫也上榜出境游前10客源地。

至于出境游目的地分布上，66%的飛行意向集中在東南亞、日韓、港澳臺亞太地區。同比2019年，東南亞增幅在50%以上，其他亞洲以及近來合作更加緊密的中東地區增幅超過100%。據悉，今年“五一”假期出境熱門目的地top10為中國香港、中國澳門、首爾、新加坡、曼谷、中國臺北、普吉島、大阪、東京、悉尼。

民航局有關司局負責人透露，國內方面，預計國內客運航班將達到6.5萬班，可提供1200余萬個座位，運力供給超過2019年同期。“五一”期間中外航空公司預計執行3500班國際客運航班，恢復至2019年同期的30%。而此前中國民航局運輸司副司長徐青介紹稱，截至4月中旬國際航班量恢復至疫情前的29.4％，通航59個國家，恢復至疫情前的82％。

飛友科技數據顯示，“五一”機票價格超2019年同期水平。國內航線日均單程機票價格（含稅）約1095元，而2019年“五一”期間約為788元，平均漲幅為39%，國際/地區航線日均單程機票價格（含稅）約1910元，保持相對較高水平。

愈加火爆的出入境旅游市場，刺激各國旅游局、境外目的地加快在華營銷步伐。4月18日，加拿大安大略省旅游局官宣與馬蜂窩合作，在中國探索用新方式進行“目的地營銷”。而馬來西亞旅游、藝術和文化部與馬來西亞旅游局則剛剛于4月15日結束為期半個月的中國營銷路演活動。營銷活動遍及北京、重慶、廣州、上海、廈門多地。為了顯示馬來西亞旅游的招徠意愿，亞航也在近期推出了機票促銷活動。此外，近期啟動2023大中華區路演活動的還有斐濟旅游局，為期6天的路演活動分別在北京、上海、成都和青城山四地拉開序幕。

消費熱潮涌動

隨著“五一”假期臨近，各地消費熱潮涌動。4月29日，上海第四屆“五五購物節”與商務部“國際消費季”將共同啟動，發力“新客群”“新供給”“新場景”；4月26日晚，“粵港澳大灣區消費季暨第三屆直播電商節”在廣州市正式開啟；“五一”小長假期間，山西省文旅廳推出2023年山西省文化和旅游消費季惠民政策；北京、山東等地也紛紛“出招”，推動消費持續向好。

各地發放消費券的熱潮仍在持續。深圳將于4月28日至5月12日開展第五屆雙品網購節（深圳）活動，其中就包括6000萬京東到家消費券。與此同時，大鵬新區“五一”假期派送數字人民幣百萬消費紅包，到大鵬新區轄區內活動商戶進行消費券并使用數字人民幣付款，即享受紅包滿減優惠。

2023中國（重慶）國際消費節將于4月28日-5月31日舉辦，開啟重慶5月國際消費熱潮。活動期間，兩江新區、渝中、璧山等將發放政府消費券共計約1300萬元，京東、支付寶等平臺發放約3000萬元消費券，各商業綜合體、特色消費場景發放約5500萬元福利優惠等。

而在香港，“開心香港”一系列活動將于29日展開。香港特區行政長官李家超表示，希望透過“開心香港”多姿多彩的活動，加上本月開始發放新一輪消費券，讓市民開開心心消費并提振香港經濟。

同時，地方政府紛紛發布政策措施促消費。例如，近日公布的《廣州市促進消費提檔升級若干措施》提出，廣州今年將繼續研究發放政府消費券，支持零售、住宿、餐飲、旅游、體育消費，各區將根據實際配套組織發放消費券。

消費券備受青睞，是因為其具有乘數效應，投放的消費券可以產生數倍的直接消費。公開信息顯示，今年以來山東省共發放各類消費券5.28億元，其中，餐飲、汽車、家電分別發放2.7億元、2.08億元和0.5億元，合計拉動消費102億元左右，有力帶動消費全面向好。

對于“五一”期間及未來的促消費活動，在4月27日商務部召開的例行新聞發布會上，商務部新聞發言人束玨婷表示，二季度，商務部將組織開展綠色消費季、國際消費季等主題活動，舉辦雙品網購節等專題活動，推出“美麗鄉村 休閑生活”“品牌消費 品質消費”等13個消費場景。各地也將因地制宜舉辦系列活動，推動消費市場穩步恢復。她表示，這些活動均持續至“五一”后，相信將為“五一”消費市場增添更多活力。

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Host: Stephanie LI

Writer: Stephanie LI

Sound Editor: Stephanie LI

Graphic Designer: ZHENG Wenjing, LIAO Yuanni

Produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News.

Presented by SFC

編委: 于曉娜

策劃、編輯：李艷霞

播音：李瑩亮

撰稿：李瑩亮

音頻制作：李瑩亮

設計：鄭文靜、廖苑妮

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