China’s annual Spring Festival travel rush, a 40-day period commonly referred to as the world’s largest annual human migration, commenced yesterday ahead of an extended Lunar New Year holiday.
This year’s Lunar New Year, ushering in the Year of the Horse, falls on Feb. 17 and will be accompanied by an extra-long nine-day public holiday in China, running from Feb. 15 to 23.
It is hoped a longer holiday (last year’s break was eight days) might prompt Chinese consumers to boost consumption by spending more on travel and meals this festival period.
Photo: Reuters
Many Chinese consumers have been shaken by the nation’s uncertain economic outlook and would rather save than spend. Homeowners have seen their assets depreciate in a years-long property market slump, while weaker growth momentum since the COVID-19 pandemic has added to job insecurity.
That said, a state planning official last week said that China expects a record 9.5 billion passenger trips to be made during the period, surpassing the 9.02 billion trips made last year.
“Why do I feel it’s even more stressful to buy tickets this year compared with last year? For example, the flight back to my home is already sold out,” said 32-year-old Liu, a traveler flying out of Guangzhou airport yesterday. “If you don’t buy early, the price range fluctuates a lot, and can even double.”
Major travel platforms reported Lunar New Year bookings already surpassing last year’s levels. According to data from Flight Master, as of the middle of last month, bookings for domestic flights during the holiday exceeded 4.13 million, up about 21 percent year-on-year.
Popular outbound destinations are concentrated in Southeast Asia, with those flights accounting for nearly 50 percent of the total and Thailand among the leading destinations.
Following a geopolitical spat between China and Japan late last year, routes to Japan have dropped sharply, down more than 40 percent, according to Flight Master.
Domestically, culturally rich “intangible heritage towns,” such as such as Huangshan in Anhui Province, Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province, Quanzhou in Fujian Province, Foshan in Guangdong Province and Zigong in Sichuan Province have emerged as popular destinations, online travel agency Qunar said.
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