Tourists ride on camels during Mid-Autumn Festival holiday at Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot in Dunhuang, Northwest China”s Gansu province, Sept 10, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]
People’s enthusiasm for travelling is rising in China for the upcoming week-long National Day holiday.
Air ticket prices and booking volume are seeing an obvious increase during the week-long period compared with this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the Chinanews.com reported Tuesday.
By Sept 16, the average price of the booked air ticket during the National Day holiday surpassed 700 yuan ($97.93), increasing nearly 40 percent compared with the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, said the online travel agency TravelGo.
Air tickets for some routes are in short supply during the upcoming holiday, with the price of economy class on some routes surging to full price, said another online travel platform Qunar.
The discounts for air tickets have been greatly reduced from Sept 28 to 30 on some popular travel routes, such as Beijing-Dunhuang, Shanghai-Lijiang, Guangzhou-Jiuzhaigou and Tianjin-Jieyang.
The top 10 most popular destinations by flight during the upcoming National Day holiday are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xi’an, Chongqing, Changsha and Qingdao, according to the online tour platform Ctrip.
With the relaxation of entry and quarantine policies in some countries and regions, the search and order volumes of air tickets on international routes have significantly increased.
Data from the TravelGo showed that the average price of the international flights jumps 18 percent year-on-year during the week-long holiday.
By Sept 25, Japan became the hottest flight destination from China, with the number of booked flight orders for that route surging 67 percent week-on-week during the holiday. Moreover, the air price of the route increased 32 percent.
Popular overseas flight destinations also include the UK, South Korea, Singapore and Russia.
The short-distance trip, such as local and surrounding tours, remains mainstream during the holiday due to some uncertainties brought by the pandemic, with domestic scenic spots, hotels and minsu (a Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast establishment) expected to usher in a large number of visitors, TravelGo said.
TravelGo predicted that parent-child travel, rural travel, as well as leisure outdoor and self-driving travel will become the most popular tourism “themes” during the National Day holiday. People’s attention to high-star hotels with various leisure and vacation themes increased by 130 percent after the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
In addition, young tourists prefer in-depth urban tours and various light outdoor games. According to the TravelGo, the search volume for various light outdoor travels has increased by over 150 percent month-on-month since September. Light outdoor sports including citywalks, frisbee, flag football, paddle board, cycling and kayaking have become popular experiences among young tourists.
