2023-09-29 07:53:05
HONG KONG (AP) — Many millions of Chinese tourists are expected to travel domestically, splurging on hotels, tours, attractions and meals and boosting the economy during an eight-day holiday that began Friday.
This year’s holiday began with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Friday and also includes National Day on October 1. The holidays end on October 6.
Typically, hundreds of millions of Chinese travel home and abroad during such holidays. The public holiday is the longest since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in December.
Large cities such as the capital Beijing, Shanghai and southern cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou are preferred destinations. Smaller cities, such as Chengdu and Chongqing in southwest China, are also popular.
All that travel is a boon for the world’s second-largest economy: During the May holiday week this year, 274 million tourists spent 148 billion yuan ($20.3 billion).
“In recent years, with the pandemic, there has been really strong pent-up demand,” said Boon Sian Chai, managing director of travel booking platform Trip.com Group. Both domestic and outbound travel have “recovered significantly,” but travel within China accounted for nearly three-quarters of total bookings, Chai said.
China Railway said it expected about 190 million passenger trips between Sept. 27 and Oct. 8, more than double last year and an increase from 2019, before the pandemic began.
In Guangzhou and Shenzhen, additional high-speed night trains will operate for 11 days to cope with increased travel during the long holiday, according to China Railway Guangzhou Group Co., Ltd.
Another 21 million passengers are expected to travel by air during the holiday, averaging about 17,000 flights per day, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. More than 80% of these flights are domestic routes.
“Most Chinese don’t have long vacations, so this time of year is when everyone can take the longest break and the only time to travel for fun,” said Fu Zhengshuai, a computer engineer and photography enthusiast. .
The downside to traveling during such a major holiday is that everyone else is there too and prices for attraction tickets, food and accommodation are high, Fu said.
______
Olivia Zhang and Wayne Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.
1695974347
#Millions #travelers #China #advantage #8day #holiday