China travel booking apps show May Day holiday recovery to pre-COVID levels

Trip.com

11/04/2023 10:07

BEIJING, April 11 (Reuters) - Travel bookings in China
have recovered to pre-pandemic levels after being suppressed
last year by zero-COVID policies, and are set to boom for the
upcoming May Day holiday, according to data from popular booking
apps.
    By April 6, orders of domestic travel for the holiday had
reached pre-COVID levels and were seven times higher than last
year, according to online travel booking portal Trip.com Group.
 9961.HK  
    Travel and restaurant booking app Meituan  3690.HK  said its
bookings for the upcoming May Day holiday from April 29-May 3
had reached a five-year high by the start of this week.
    The five-day May holiday is traditionally one of China's
busiest tourist seasons as spring moves into summer. Tourist
spending and travel volumes were hit heavily last year by
China's zero-COVID policy to stop the spread of the virus. 
    Domestic trips made during the holiday in 2021 reached 230
million, a record high, according to the Ministry of Culture and
Tourism. But the number dropped 43% to 160 million last year. 
    "The backlog of consumer travel demand since February is
expected to be released during May Day holiday. Major domestic
tourist cities and vacation destinations are expected to benefit
from this," said Fang Zeqian, an industry analyst at Trip.com.
    The app data is a bright spot for the consumer industry
which is still struggling to recover as people tighten their
budgets due to worries over the slowing economy and employment. 
    Jin Hui, CEO of Chinese hotel chains operator H World Group
 1179.HK  that operates more than 8,500 hotels, said COVID had
brought significant changes to people's shopping habits. 
    "In the past, when people have money, they will buy clothes
and bags," Jin said. "Today more people are willing to spend on
experiences, on holidays and leisure time."
    "The pandemic made people learn that we should enjoy life
instead of living in uncertainties."

 (Reporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh
Editing by Peter Graff)
 ((Sophie.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; 861056692136;))