Tourism market booms as May Day holiday approaches

Demand on tourism bursts as the Minsu market's recovery speeds up with the upcoming the May Day holiday, ThePaper reported on Tuesday.

As of April 17, bookings of Minsu (a Chinese-style bed-and-breakfast establishment) surged twofold compared with same period of 2019, with average room price reaching 534 yuan ($77.64), according to data from online Minsu booking platform Tujia.

During this past month, Zibo's barbecue in East China's Shandong province has gone viral and that has driven its Minsu market to boom with May Day holiday booking numbers jumping twelve-fold from 2019.

According to the online booking platform, the booking number for Minsu increased threefold in Shandong province during the May Day holiday while its average room price of 522 yuan remains lower than national average level.

Moreover, other cities in Shandong province are also showing a auspicious performance on Minsu bookings, said Tujia platform.

Among China's top 10 popular tourism destinations, Shandong has two cites with positions - Qingdao and Weihai - and Qingdao surpassed Chengdu and Chongqing for the first time to take the number one spot.

In addition, the booking numbers in Yantai, Jinan, Rizhao and Tai'an of Shandong province have also seen a good performance.

This year, seaside destinations are also seeing a spike in bookings.

Ten cities' Minsu bookings surged fourfold in anticipation of the May Day holiday, with eight cities located in the seaside, according to Tujia. Weihai takes the 1st spot with its booking number surging 14.6 times, followed by Rizhao, Fuzhou, Taizhou and Shantou.

The Minsu in rural areas are still popular, with the booking number accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total, said Tujia.

The top 10 cities with large booking numbers for Minsu in rural areas are Dali, Beijing, Xiamen, Lijiang, Suzhou, Qingdao, Shanghai, Fuzhou, Hangzhou and Beihai.

Among customers booking the Minsu in rural areas, the "post-80s" and "post-90s" generations are still the mainstream, accounting for more than 60 percent. Lofts, inns and single-family villas are popular room types, as well as fruit and vegetable picking, diy and delicacies as the most popular experience activities.