1st Mat 2025 – (Hong Kong) The five-day May Day holiday kicked off today, and numerous mainland Chinese tourists are taking advantage of the extended break to travel abroad. The Travel Industry Council estimates that over 800,000 mainland Chinese tourists will visit Hong Kong during this period.
During a radio interview in Hong Kong this morning (1st), Fan Dongxiao, the Head of Outbound Travel Products at online travel booking platform Tuniu Corporation, expressed that overall travel bookings during the May Day holiday have seen a year-on-year increase post-pandemic. Particularly, there has been a significant surge in bookings for trips to Hong Kong and Macao, with weekly numbers doubling in recent times. After mainland China reopened travel to Hong Kong and Macao for solo tourists from eight additional cities in May last year, there has been a notable rise in searches and bookings for travel products to Hong Kong and Macao from these cities, with Harbin and Taiyuan in Shanxi standing out. Regarding group tours to the USA, reservations are typically made two to three months in advance, with significant changes expected to be seen during this year’s summer holiday.
Liu Jie, assistant to CEO of CYTS Aoyou Technology Development Co., Ltd highlighted that this year’s May Day holiday has seen many travellers opting for 8 to 10-day long-haul group tours, with each tour costing around 15,000 to 20,000 RMB per person. Bookings for domestic tours and outbound travel have surged by 60% and 40% respectively. The average duration of travel for customers has increased to 7.2 days, marking a 15% extension from the previous year. Emerging destinations such as Shunde in Guangdong and Wenchang in Hainan have gained popularity among travellers this year. However, outbound travel has been impacted by the U.S.-China trade tensions, leading to a 20% decline in bookings for U.S. tours.
