As the temperature picks up, the country's medium- and high-risk areas have been cleared, and people's pent up travel enthusiasm during the Spring Festival finally has a chance to release. On the upcoming Ching Ming Festival and the "May 1st" holiday, the first small travel peak since the new crown pneumonia epidemic is expected.
"May 1st" will be the first peak of travel since the epidemic, and the number of tourists out of Qingming is expected to reach 100 million
In February of this year, Airbnb China conducted a survey of 900 Chinese users who had travel experience in the past two years, and 85% of them said that they are planning or have booked travel for 2021.
Survey data shows that in the spring of 2021, each tourist plans 1.6 trips on average, and 54% of the respondents prefer to travel with their closest relatives. "Outing, enjoying spring, and being close to nature" are the main reasons for outings in spring.
According to the analysis of the online travel platform Ctrip, the number of tourists on the Ching Ming Festival is expected to return to the same period in 2019, and it is expected that the number of tourists on the Ching Ming Festival this year will reach 100 million. The surrounding short-distance tours and self-driving tours have increased significantly, and "family tours" are the main form of travel.
The car rental orders received by Ctrip during the Ching Ming holiday doubled compared to 2019, with an average rental of 4.2 days. Tourists from Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Chengdu, and Xi'an like to drive around. At the same time, resort and leisure hotels around the city and popular tourist destinations are also particularly popular, such as Club Med Joyview Beidaihe Gold Coast Resort, Hangzhou Kaiyuan Senbo Resort, Atlantis Sanya, Yangzhou Guest House, Chimelong Hotel ( Guangzhou Changlong Wild Animal World Store), Beijing Haiwan Banshan Hot Spring Hotel, etc.
From the perspective of flight and hotel bookings, on the Qunar platform, the search volume of domestic routes during the Qingming period has recovered to 80% of the same period in 2019, and the number of ticket bookings for returning passengers has recovered to more than 90% of 2019. At the same time, as of March 9, Qingming Holiday hotel reservations increased 4.5 times year-on-year.
After the announcement of the "May 1st" holiday, the number of air ticket searches on the Ctrip platform from May 1 to May 5 this year surged 175% year-on-year, and a 102% year-on-year increase compared to 2019. It is expected that "May 1st" will welcome this year. From the biggest wave of outings since the epidemic.
Beijingers yearn for Sanya, Sanya Northeast people return home
Starting at 00:00 on March 16, 2021, people from low-risk areas in China no longer need to hold a negative nucleic acid test certificate within 7 days before arriving in Beijing, and no 14-day health surveillance will be implemented after arriving in Beijing. The demand for visiting relatives in Beijing was released early during the Qingming holiday.
Ctrip data shows that Sanya has become the most desirable tourist destination for Beijing people. During the Qingming Festival, the number of air tickets bookings from Beijing to Sanya increased by 76% year-on-year in 2019; during the "May Day" period, the number of air tickets from Beijing to Sanya also increased by 216% year-on-year.
The strong travel demand has even increased the price of air tickets. In the past six months, the average price of economy class on domestic routes has dropped by 23% year-on-year in 2019. However, during the May 1st holiday this year, the ticket prices of popular routes have rebounded strongly. The ticket prices of Shanghai-Sanya, Beijing-Sanya and Shanghai-Chongqing have been compared to 2019. The annual increase was 46%, 112%, and 16% respectively. Up to now, the economy class fare on domestic routes during the May 1st period has increased by 11% year-on-year.
Interestingly, while Beijingers rushed to Sanya, many Northeastern people who had taken refuge in Sanya began to return home. Qunar data shows that the Sanya-Harbin route entered the top ten popular routes in the country during the Ching Ming Festival, with an average price of 880 yuan, which is higher than Shanghai to Chengdu (777 yuan) and Shanghai to Chongqing (679 yuan).
Xishuangbanna heats up
In addition to Sanya, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan has also become a popular destination. Many tourists are attracted by Douyin videos, hoping to take a long vacation to experience Southeast Asian customs.
Qunar data shows that since March, hotel bookings in Xishuangbanna have nearly doubled compared with February, becoming one of the cities with the fastest growth in hotel bookings in Yunnan in March, with high-star hotel bookings accounting for 39%. Affected by this, the average hotel prices in Xishuangbanna increased by 10% from February and 52% from January. The post-80s and post-90s have become the absolute main force of tourists to Xishuangbanna, accounting for more than 80% of the total.
On the Ctrip platform, searches for tourism products in Xishuangbanna during the May Day holiday increased by 1105% year-on-year, and bookings increased by 1893% year-on-year. Statistics found that the tourists yearning for Xishuangbanna are mainly from Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Chengdu and Guangzhou.
Popular flower viewing routes
Spring is the season for viewing flowers. The peach blossoms in Linzhi, Tibet and the cherry blossoms in Wuhan attract a large number of tourists.
Qunar data shows that Chengdu-Nyingchi and Linzhi-Chengdu are the two most popular routes on Qunar platform during the Ching Ming holiday, with an average price of 1508 yuan and 1,500 yuan respectively.
Wuhan has also entered the Top 10 most popular cities for hotel booking this year, with an average price of 319 yuan per night. Jianghan Road Pedestrian Street, Yellow Crane Tower and Donghu Scenic Area are the three most popular attractions for tourists. The flowering period of Wuhan's cherry blossoms this year is 10 days earlier than in previous years. The passenger flow of one of the "three major cherry blossom capitals in the world"-Wuhan Donghu Moshan Cherry Blossom Garden has increased by more than 20% over the same period in 2019.
In addition to Linzhi and Wuhan, the cherry blossoms in Yuantouzhu, Wuxi, the rape blossoms in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, the pear blossoms in Jinchuan, Sichuan, the apricot blossoms in Yili, Xinjiang, the peony blossoms in Luoyang, Henan, and the begonia blossoms in Nanjing, have all become popular check-in events this spring.