China's tourism sector is expected to see another surge following the market boom brought by the Qingming Festival earlier this month, as data show that a nationwide May Day holiday travel rush is already around the corner.
Ahead of this year's May Day holiday, which runs from May 1 to 5, train and flight tickets to many popular domestic tourist attractions have already been fully booked.
Based on the data of visas, popular overseas destinations for the five-day holiday are Japan, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, Canada and New Zealand.
In terms of inbound travels, statistics from several travel service platforms have shown that the bookings on long-distance trips have taken up half of the total, with cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Hangzhou being the most that win hearts of tourists for holiday travel.
Many attractions have also brought forth new tour products to attract holidaymakers.
Beijing has launched three helicopter sightseeing routes, enabling tourists to see grand mountains, the Miyun Reservoir, the Baihe River Canyon and the Great Wall from the sky.
"The part of Great Wall in Miyun District stretches over 200 kilometers. Many sections of the Great Wall are not opened to the public yet, as they are still in protection. The helicopter tour which allows people to view the Great Wall from the sky has now become another way for sightseeing," said Wang Yongku, deputy director of Miyun District's Culture and Tourism Bureau.
Meanwhile, data also indicates that the number of tourists who would like to visit small cities across China has been increasing, as the hotel bookings in county-level areas have risen by 68 percent year on year.
Small cities with feeder airports such as Baoshan, Huaihua, Chifeng and Heze have seen a year-on-year surge in plane ticket booking, with that of most of them growing by over 50 percent.