China’s May Day holiday period, spanning from May 1st to 5th, is poised to witness a historic surge in travel activity. Data from tourist attractions and transportation services indicates a significant increase in bookings and passenger trips. The boom in the tourism industry during this major holiday reflects a substantial upgrade and recovery of domestic consumption in China. Experts anticipate that this year’s May Day holidays may see the tourism industry return to the levels experienced in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The national railway system is expected to transport 144 million passengers during the eight-day holiday period, with an average of 18 million passengers per day. The highest number of trips is anticipated on May 1st, with an estimated 21 million passengers set to travel in a single day.
Guo Sheng, deputy director of the Highway Bureau of the Ministry of Transport, predicts a significant increase in travel volume during the May Day holidays, with a high proportion of people choosing to travel by car. The policy of exempting tolls for small passenger vehicles on highways will continue to be implemented over the five-day holiday period.
Data from online travel platforms indicates that the popularity of holiday travel has continued from last year, making this year’s May Day holidays potentially the busiest since the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic long-distance travel remains preferred by a significant number of tourists, constituting 46 percent of total trips. Outbound travel bookings have also surged, with related service bookings experiencing robust growth of nearly 100 percent, building on last year’s rapid rebound.
Tickets for many domestic major tourist attractions have already been sold out days ahead of the holidays. Scenic spots have implemented measures such as controlling visitor flow and extending visiting hours to ensure a safe and enhanced experience for travelers.
China’s tourism economy has maintained a rapid recovery since the beginning of this year. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of domestic tourist trips reached 1.419 billion, an increase of 16.7 percent year-on-year. Domestic tourists spent a total of 1.52 trillion yuan on travel, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 17.0 percent.
Wu Fenglin, director of the Planning and Leisure Research Institute, China Tourism Academy, expressed confidence in the recovery of the domestic tourism market. He attributed the tourism sector’s positive performance to pent-up demand and an upgrade in new travel products. Wu noted that the overall performance of the tourism industry during this year’s May Day holidays has the potential to mirror that of 2019, the biggest year on record.
