Omicron dents prospects for travel during May Day holidays

Govt vows to boost consumption, support businesses

As multiple Chinese localities rolled out travel guidance for the upcoming fiveday May Day holidays, asking residents to stay put and requiring nucleic acid test results, analysts said that the tourism sector is facing another test, with hopes of recovery dashed by the latest round of COVID- 19 outbreaks.

However, there are still bright spots, as many are still planning to visit various places within their provinces or cities and engage in camping and other activities during the holidays. Meanwhile, Chinese officials have also vowed to take various measures to boost consumption and support companies badly affected by COVID- 19.

“For an industry that has already suffered for nearly three years amid the epidemic, the [ latest outbreaks and anti- epidemic measures] are a fresh blow,” said Zhang Lingyun, a professor of tourism development at Beijing International Studies University.

“However, anti- epidemic efforts are top priority,” Zhang said.

China’s online travel booking platform Ctrip said that as of April 25, some 52 percent of the orders placed were for tourist sites within provinces during the holiday period.

For South China’s Guangdong Province and Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, such orders accounted for nearly 80 percent of all orders placed so far, according to Ctrip.

Although travel between provinces has become a luxury for many tourists, industry players said there is still a silver lining.

Tours to rural areas increased, with bookings for hotels in rural areas jumping to 560 percent of that of the Qingming Festival in April 3- 5. Nearly 30 percent of the bookings are for family groups.

Travel platform Qunar. com said hotels in many cities are at their five- yearlow for the May Day holidays, and many luxury hotels such as in Beijing, Chengdu in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, were only charging half the rates they had last year.

However, ticket sales for parks that can accommodate camping activity increased by 50 percent from last year’s levels and camping- themed travel services saw bookings triple, according to Qunar. com.

Wang Ya, a resident of Chongqing, said camping grounds have to be booked a month in advance amid a surge of interest this year.

Data from flight data provider VariFlight showed that flights during the holiday may drop to less than 3,000 a day, which would be a 70- 80 percent drop from 2021 levels.

Given the negative impact of the latest outbreaks, Chinese officials have rolled out various measures to boost consumption, including cash handouts and coupons. Experts expect a solid rebound in consumption once the outbreaks are brought under effective control soon.