Tourism bookings for the upcoming Qingming Festival holiday from April 4 to 6 have seen robust growth year-on-year, according to a report about recent travel trends by Chinese tourism website Fliggy.
Blooming flowers and trees across the country have created viral spring scenes on social media, driving rapid growth in tourism consumption.
As of March 26, domestic hotel room nights booked on Fliggy had risen by around 40 percent year-on-year, while the number of tickets booked for domestic scenic spots had surged by more than 70 percent year-on-year.
According to Fliggy, long-distance popular destinations including the Macao Special Administrative Region, Xizang autonomous region, Qinghai, Hainan, Fujian and Yunnan provinces led the nation in booking growth for the Qingming Festival holiday.
Enjoying the vibrant spring scenery is not only a unique ritual of the season, but also the most popular travel theme at present. Search volumes on Fliggy for keywords such as flower viewing and spring outings have soared greatly year-on-year, as have the sales of sightseeing products on the platform.
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Destinations across the country have launched colorful flower-viewing events for the holiday. For example, tourists can stroll among blooming orchids and watch a parade of performers dressed as Flower Gods in hanfu (traditional Chinese attire).
Outbound tourism has maintained steady growth, with travel experiences becoming the top priority for people planning overseas trips during the holiday. Up until March 26, sales on Fliggy for overseas entertainment services during the Qingming Festival holiday, such as cruises, helicopter tours, hiking, and handicraft experiences had increased by nearly 120 percent year-on-year.
Countries and regions within the four-hour flight radius, such as South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia, remain the most popular outbound destinations for the holiday. Meanwhile, slower-paced destinations have also posted strong growth rates for the holiday period, including Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Fiji, Iceland, Nepal, Belgium, Australia, and Greece.
