One in Ten Chinese Will Travel Abroad in May Day Holiday, Study Shows

Tang Shihua

(Yicai Global) April 27 — Chinese tourists and their consumption will set new records again during the May Day holiday, a sector analysis by China’s major travel agencies indicates, as state media The Paper reported.

One-tenth of Chinese will travel abroad, and China will receive up to 149 million tourists in the upcoming holiday, which runs from tomorrow to May 1, up over 10 percent on last year, a report that Ctrip Tourism Big Data Joint Laboratory experts issued yesterday shows. Tourists from 270 cities across China have booked tickets online for both domestic and outbound travel over the holiday, per the lab’s statistics. The destinations include more than 30 provinces and cities in China and 80 countries.

The ranks of tourists in second- and third-tier and central and western cities has risen rapidly compared with the same period in prior years, and the data also indicate these travelers spend more. Many middle-class families in these cities who have entered the tourism market have formed consumption habits through mobile phone and online travel booking, and thus they will be the main driver for future tourism market growth, the report advised.

The provinces of Hainan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hunan and Anhui are the most favored domestic travel destinations, according to Ctrip’s Most Popular Provinces for Travel during May Day Holiday list.

Editor: Ben Armour