Beijing swings between holiday splurge and Covid – MENAFN.COM

Beijing swings between holiday splurge and Covid – MENAFN.COM

(MENAFN - Asia Times) Chinese people's pent-up demand for travel and revelry, suppressed in previous national holidays and celebrations, is set to be unleashed. The nation's travel, catering and hospitality industries are salivating at the prospect of a surge in business unseen since the start of the pandemic as people pack for trips and book tickets and tables for the five-day national break starting from Saturday. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said on Thursday that no fewer than 200 million travelers would be out and about in the first week of May, according to nationwide train, plane and hotel bookings. The number of trips to be made during this year's Labor Day Golden Week would exceed the corresponding period of 2019, Xinhua quoted Minister Hu Heping as saying, hinting that China's domestic travel and related consumption would claw back lost revenues and even smash pre-Covid records. China's popular accommodation reservation and ticketing agency Qunar saw a 30% surge in bookings this week compared with two years ago. Tickets from Beijing and Shanghai to popular tourist hangouts like the tropical beach city of Sanya have become hard to come by, with average prices of economy seats fetching 3, 000 yuan