The domestic tourism market, worth an estimated US$1 trillion, was once an important driver of economic growth before Covid-19 curbs including citywide lockdowns kept people at home or at least deterred them from straying far. It is also often referred to as “golden week”. Known as the Labour Day or May Day holiday, the five-day break which ended on Wednesday, marked the first days-long break in China since Beijing shelved its zero-Covid strategy in December. “As Chinese people have a tradition of spending more during trips than at home, long-haul travel means a brisk recovery of consumption related to travel, such as catering, hotels, transport and entertainment.” “The eagerness for a long-haul holiday among Chinese travellers has been unleashed during this year’s Labour Day holiday,” said Peng. The travel bonanza will have given a welcome boost to consumption, according to Peng Han, director of the strategic research centre of the Ctrip Research Institute. About 70 per cent of those flights were to destinations in Asia, led by Hong Kong, Bangkok, Macau and Singapore. Sales of tickets for overseas flights were eight times higher than during the Labour Day holiday last year, data showed. The first long national holiday since Beijing abandoned its tough pandemic restrictions saw Chinese tourists flying an average distance of 1,638km, according to travel giant Group.Įquivalent to a trip from Shanghai in eastern China to Inner Mogolia’s Hohhot, that is by far the highest in the last three years and just 2 per cent shy of 2019, before the novel coronavirus first emerged.ĭo you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. The May Day holiday unleashed a tourism frenzy in mainland China as frustrated travellers cast off the shackles of Covid-19 and flew further afield and in far greater numbers than at any time in the last three years.
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