China sees surge in air, rail travel bookings as Labor Day holiday approaches

China sees a surge in air and rail travel bookings as the five-day Labor Day holiday approaches

This year's Labor Day holiday lasts from May 1 to May 5, and people are already planning their travels during the five-day holiday.

Data from online booking platforms show that travel enthusiasm during the Labor Day holiday will be higher than last year. Airline ticket bookings for popular cities have been rising by about 40 percent in a single day.

Data from Umetrip.com shows that more than 2.2 million domestic airline tickets have been booked for the holiday period, up nearly 62 percent from a week ago; more than 690,000 tickets have been booked for inbound and outbound routes, up about 17 percent from a week ago.

The top 10 popular domestic destinations are Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Chongqing, Kunming and Wuhan.

In addition, Zhao Nan, director of industry development at Umetrip.com, said outbound travel is also a popular choice during the five-day holiday, and the number of outbound travelers is expected to reach a record high.

"We are expecting high demand for outbound travel during the Labor Day holiday, and the number of travelers to neighboring countries such as Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, especially to countries offering visa-free access for Chinese travelers, is expected to grow more significantly. Based on current air ticket bookings, Seoul, Hong Kong, China, Bangkok, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Macau, China, London and Sydney are the most popular outbound destinations," said Zhao.

As demand rises, so does the price of airfare. As of April 16, the average price of domestic tickets booked for the holiday was nearly 1,000 yuan (about 138.17 U.S. dollars), up nearly 40 percent from the week before the holiday, basically at the same level of the 2023 holiday period. Duan Qiao, head of international airline ticket business at LY.com said international airfares are also on the rise.

"The average international airfare for travel during the Labor Day holiday is over 3,000 yuan (about 414.46 U.S. dollars), with the average international airfare booked for departures on May 1 approaching 4,000 yuan (about 552.62 U.S. dollars). Airfares for popular destinations and periods are likely to continue to rise due to high demand," said Duan.

Train tickets are also in high demand. Data from 12306.cn, China's official rail ticket booking website, shows that tickets between many cities sell out quickly, leaving queues on the waiting lists.

The railway departments urged travelers who failed to buy the tickets they want to expand the scopes of date, train and seat on their waiting lists. In addition, the railway departments said they would also increase the frequency of trains according to demand.

China saw an expansion in domestic tourism in the first half of 2024, with 2.725 billion domestic tourist trips made during the period, up 14.3 percent year on year, results of a sampling survey by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed on Friday.

The domestic tourist expenditure reached 2.73 trillion yuan (about 376.45 billion U.S. dollars) during the same period, up 19 percent year on year, the ministry said.

From January to June, Chinese urban residents took 2.087 billion domestic trips, up 12.3 percent year on year, while rural residents took 638 million trips, up 21.5 percent increase year on year. Urban residents spent 2.31 trillion yuan (about 318.65 billion U.S. dollars) on trips, marking a 16.8 percent year-on-year increase, and rural residents spent 420 billion yuan (about 57.94 billion U.S. dollars), up 32.6 percent year on year, according to the ministry.