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(jié)束后的第一個(gè)小長(zhǎng)假，火熱態(tài)勢(shì)早已擋不住。

目前，攜程、飛豬、去哪兒等平臺(tái)數(shù)據(jù)均顯示，國(guó)內(nèi)機(jī)票、酒店、景區(qū)門票等產(chǎn)品的訂單量都超過(guò)了2019年同期水平。預(yù)期的國(guó)內(nèi)日均航班量和日均旅客運(yùn)輸量也已超過(guò)2019年同期水平。

攜程近日預(yù)測(cè)，今年“五一”假期旅游人次有望突破2019年同期水平，達(dá)到2億人次，創(chuàng)五年來(lái)新高，其中，內(nèi)地出境游產(chǎn)品整體預(yù)訂量增幅最醒目，同比增長(zhǎng)超18倍。相較于前三年的就近活動(dòng)，今年國(guó)內(nèi)長(zhǎng)線旅游訂單有著驚人的增長(zhǎng)。此外，高端旅游消費(fèi)力依然堅(jiān)挺，自駕游成為年輕人首選。機(jī)票、火車票價(jià)格的上漲，導(dǎo)致選擇性價(jià)比更高的自駕游出行的人們?cè)絹?lái)越多，租車行業(yè)火熱。

“五一”旅游再現(xiàn)“人從眾”

飛豬近日發(fā)布的《2023年“五一”出游風(fēng)向標(biāo)》顯示，截至目前，國(guó)內(nèi)機(jī)票、酒店、景區(qū)門票、跟團(tuán)游等均已超過(guò)2019年同期，累計(jì)預(yù)訂量同比去年勁增超10倍，中長(zhǎng)線游訂單占比高達(dá)9成以上。長(zhǎng)線旅游成為今年“五一”假期游客首選。

中長(zhǎng)線旅行的火爆，帶動(dòng)鐵路、民航等交通全面復(fù)蘇，客運(yùn)量或超過(guò)2019年。中國(guó)民航局4月21日對(duì)外披露，從機(jī)票預(yù)訂數(shù)據(jù)看，今年“五一”假期訂票已超600萬(wàn)人次，旅客出行需求提前釋放，市場(chǎng)熱度基本恢復(fù)至2019年同期水平。預(yù)計(jì)“五一”假期民航將運(yùn)輸旅客約900萬(wàn)人次。航旅縱橫數(shù)據(jù)顯示，“五一”假期國(guó)內(nèi)計(jì)劃客運(yùn)航班量約6.9萬(wàn)班，較去年同期實(shí)際執(zhí)行客運(yùn)航班量增長(zhǎng)超3倍。國(guó)內(nèi)民航旅客量預(yù)計(jì)比去年同期實(shí)際旅客量增長(zhǎng)近3.6倍。截至4月23日，“五一”假期國(guó)內(nèi)航司的出入境機(jī)票預(yù)訂量超35萬(wàn)，環(huán)比上周增長(zhǎng)近28%。

鐵路的情況類似。很多網(wǎng)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(tái)上，截至4月14日16時(shí)，北京-長(zhǎng)沙、北京-武漢、上海-廣州等多條熱門線路已售罄，近期開(kāi)通的多城市直達(dá)香港高鐵線路，僅有少量余票。

其實(shí)國(guó)鐵集團(tuán)今年“五一”的運(yùn)力安排已與2019年持平。據(jù)國(guó)鐵集團(tuán)客運(yùn)部負(fù)責(zé)人介紹，截至4月22日14時(shí)，鐵路部門已經(jīng)售出“五一”運(yùn)輸期間火車票4657萬(wàn)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(guó)鐵集團(tuán)將在4月27日至5月4日假日期間安排日均開(kāi)行旅客列車10500列，增開(kāi)1500多列，其中包括夜間高鐵102列。國(guó)鐵集團(tuán)客運(yùn)部負(fù)責(zé)人還透露，考慮到長(zhǎng)線旅游火爆，鐵路部門也會(huì)增加長(zhǎng)途運(yùn)力投放，增開(kāi)跨鐵路局長(zhǎng)途旅客列車156列。而熱門旅游城市方向的短途列車也會(huì)增開(kāi)，上海局、成都局和濟(jì)南局三個(gè)地方鐵路將會(huì)增開(kāi)396列旅客列車，其中包括濟(jì)南到淄博每日82列動(dòng)車組。

此外，自駕游也很火，攜程租車訂單量同比增長(zhǎng)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(qū)的租車訂單較2021年“五一”均增長(zhǎng)超200%。受到今年“五一”長(zhǎng)線異地出游趨勢(shì)影響，今年攜程平臺(tái)租車單均價(jià)較去年翻倍，游客用車時(shí)長(zhǎng)和用車出行距離都進(jìn)一步增長(zhǎng)。

近期在社交媒體上爆火的“特種兵旅游”仍將影響旅游市場(chǎng)，過(guò)半數(shù)游客在“五一”假期預(yù)訂兩個(gè)或兩個(gè)以上目的地城市的旅游和出行產(chǎn)品。三亞、大理等老牌旅游城市發(fā)揮穩(wěn)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(xiàn)優(yōu)異，或?qū)⒂飞献罨鸺倨凇?/p>

隨著出行人數(shù)暴漲，多地酒店出現(xiàn)了“一房難求”的現(xiàn)象。同程旅行發(fā)布的“五一”假期旅行消費(fèi)預(yù)測(cè)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，大理古城、鳳凰古城、黃山等熱門景點(diǎn)周邊，均有不少酒店出現(xiàn)滿房情況。演唱會(huì)、音樂(lè)節(jié)等演藝活動(dòng)所在地周邊的酒店預(yù)訂量同比暴增超20倍。

在住宿的選擇上，青旅旅社、經(jīng)濟(jì)型酒店、民宿等住宿類型最受出游人群的關(guān)注，其中，受年輕人喜愛(ài)的青旅旅社居于榜單首位，搜索量周環(huán)比增長(zhǎng)超230%。

高品質(zhì)、重舒適的旅游成為部分出行游客的選擇。據(jù)飛豬數(shù)據(jù)顯示，高星酒店預(yù)訂量同比去年增長(zhǎng)超14倍。

親子游也備受關(guān)注。同程旅行平臺(tái)上，“五一”假期相關(guān)的親子游搜索熱度環(huán)比上漲97%，上海迪士尼度假區(qū)、北京環(huán)球度假區(qū)、廣州動(dòng)物園、珠海長(zhǎng)隆海洋王國(guó)、廣州長(zhǎng)隆野生動(dòng)物世界是目前“五一”假期搜索熱度最高的親子游景區(qū)。

出境游復(fù)蘇進(jìn)行時(shí)

今年“五一”假期最大的看點(diǎn)是出境旅游。數(shù)據(jù)顯示，內(nèi)地出境游預(yù)訂同比增長(zhǎng)超18倍，境外跟團(tuán)游報(bào)名量較4月初增長(zhǎng)157%；攜程機(jī)票數(shù)據(jù)顯示，“五一”假期出境機(jī)票搜索量同比去年增長(zhǎng)超9倍。而與2019年同期相比，出境游機(jī)票搜索量恢復(fù)至120%，出境游酒店搜索熱度同比2019年恢復(fù)至約70%。

從機(jī)票數(shù)據(jù)來(lái)看，出境客源地主要來(lái)自北上廣深一線城市及部分省會(huì)城市。尤其是上海，貢獻(xiàn)了30%的出境訂單。此外，蘇州、無(wú)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(tái)亞太地區(qū)。同比2019年，東南亞增幅在50%以上，其他亞洲以及近來(lái)合作更加緊密的中東地區(qū)增幅超過(guò)100%。據(jù)悉，今年“五一”假期出境熱門目的地top10為中國(guó)香港、中國(guó)澳門、首爾、新加坡、曼谷、中國(guó)臺(tái)北、普吉島、大阪、東京、悉尼。

民航局有關(guān)司局負(fù)責(zé)人透露，國(guó)內(nèi)方面，預(yù)計(jì)國(guó)內(nèi)客運(yùn)航班將達(dá)到6.5萬(wàn)班，可提供1200余萬(wàn)個(gè)座位，運(yùn)力供給超過(guò)2019年同期?！拔逡弧逼陂g中外航空公司預(yù)計(jì)執(zhí)行3500班國(guó)際客運(yùn)航班，恢復(fù)至2019年同期的30%。而此前中國(guó)民航局運(yùn)輸司副司長(zhǎng)徐青介紹稱，截至4月中旬國(guó)際航班量恢復(fù)至疫情前的29.4％，通航59個(gè)國(guó)家，恢復(fù)至疫情前的82％。

飛友科技數(shù)據(jù)顯示，“五一”機(jī)票價(jià)格超2019年同期水平。國(guó)內(nèi)航線日均單程機(jī)票價(jià)格（含稅）約1095元，而2019年“五一”期間約為788元，平均漲幅為39%，國(guó)際/地區(qū)航線日均單程機(jī)票價(jià)格（含稅）約1910元，保持相對(duì)較高水平。

愈加火爆的出入境旅游市場(chǎng)，刺激各國(guó)旅游局、境外目的地加快在華營(yíng)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(guó)探索用新方式進(jìn)行“目的地營(yíng)銷”。而馬來(lái)西亞旅游、藝術(shù)和文化部與馬來(lái)西亞旅游局則剛剛于4月15日結(jié)束為期半個(gè)月的中國(guó)營(yíng)銷路演活動(dòng)。營(yíng)銷活動(dòng)遍及北京、重慶、廣州、上海、廈門多地。為了顯示馬來(lái)西亞旅游的招徠意愿，亞航也在近期推出了機(jī)票促銷活動(dòng)。此外，近期啟動(dòng)2023大中華區(qū)路演活動(dòng)的還有斐濟(jì)旅游局，為期6天的路演活動(dòng)分別在北京、上海、成都和青城山四地拉開(kāi)序幕。

消費(fèi)熱潮涌動(dòng)

隨著“五一”假期臨近，各地消費(fèi)熱潮涌動(dòng)。4月29日，上海第四屆“五五購(gòu)物節(jié)”與商務(wù)部“國(guó)際消費(fèi)季”將共同啟動(dòng)，發(fā)力“新客群”“新供給”“新場(chǎng)景”；4月26日晚，“粵港澳大灣區(qū)消費(fèi)季暨第三屆直播電商節(jié)”在廣州市正式開(kāi)啟；“五一”小長(zhǎng)假期間，山西省文旅廳推出2023年山西省文化和旅游消費(fèi)季惠民政策；北京、山東等地也紛紛“出招”，推動(dòng)消費(fèi)持續(xù)向好。

各地發(fā)放消費(fèi)券的熱潮仍在持續(xù)。深圳將于4月28日至5月12日開(kāi)展第五屆雙品網(wǎng)購(gòu)節(jié)（深圳）活動(dòng)，其中就包括6000萬(wàn)京東到家消費(fèi)券。與此同時(shí)，大鵬新區(qū)“五一”假期派送數(shù)字人民幣百萬(wàn)消費(fèi)紅包，到大鵬新區(qū)轄區(qū)內(nèi)活動(dòng)商戶進(jìn)行消費(fèi)券并使用數(shù)字人民幣付款，即享受紅包滿減優(yōu)惠。

2023中國(guó)（重慶）國(guó)際消費(fèi)節(jié)將于4月28日-5月31日舉辦，開(kāi)啟重慶5月國(guó)際消費(fèi)熱潮?；顒?dòng)期間，兩江新區(qū)、渝中、璧山等將發(fā)放政府消費(fèi)券共計(jì)約1300萬(wàn)元，京東、支付寶等平臺(tái)發(fā)放約3000萬(wàn)元消費(fèi)券，各商業(yè)綜合體、特色消費(fèi)場(chǎng)景發(fā)放約5500萬(wàn)元福利優(yōu)惠等。

而在香港，“開(kāi)心香港”一系列活動(dòng)將于29日展開(kāi)。香港特區(qū)行政長(zhǎng)官李家超表示，希望透過(guò)“開(kāi)心香港”多姿多彩的活動(dòng)，加上本月開(kāi)始發(fā)放新一輪消費(fèi)券，讓市民開(kāi)開(kāi)心心消費(fèi)并提振香港經(jīng)濟(jì)。

同時(shí)，地方政府紛紛發(fā)布政策措施促消費(fèi)。例如，近日公布的《廣州市促進(jìn)消費(fèi)提檔升級(jí)若干措施》提出，廣州今年將繼續(xù)研究發(fā)放政府消費(fèi)券，支持零售、住宿、餐飲、旅游、體育消費(fèi)，各區(qū)將根據(jù)實(shí)際配套組織發(fā)放消費(fèi)券。

消費(fèi)券備受青睞，是因?yàn)槠渚哂谐藬?shù)效應(yīng)，投放的消費(fèi)券可以產(chǎn)生數(shù)倍的直接消費(fèi)。公開(kāi)信息顯示，今年以來(lái)山東省共發(fā)放各類消費(fèi)券5.28億元，其中，餐飲、汽車、家電分別發(fā)放2.7億元、2.08億元和0.5億元，合計(jì)拉動(dòng)消費(fèi)102億元左右，有力帶動(dòng)消費(fèi)全面向好。

對(duì)于“五一”期間及未來(lái)的促消費(fèi)活動(dòng)，在4月27日商務(wù)部召開(kāi)的例行新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上，商務(wù)部新聞發(fā)言人束玨婷表示，二季度，商務(wù)部將組織開(kāi)展綠色消費(fèi)季、國(guó)際消費(fèi)季等主題活動(dòng)，舉辦雙品網(wǎng)購(gòu)節(jié)等專題活動(dòng)，推出“美麗鄉(xiāng)村 休閑生活”“品牌消費(fèi) 品質(zhì)消費(fèi)”等13個(gè)消費(fèi)場(chǎng)景。各地也將因地制宜舉辦系列活動(dòng)，推動(dòng)消費(fèi)市場(chǎng)穩(wěn)步恢復(fù)。她表示，這些活動(dòng)均持續(xù)至“五一”后，相信將為“五一”消費(fèi)市場(chǎng)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(shè)計(jì)：鄭文靜、廖苑妮

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