Tourists visit a popular tourism spot in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on April 16, 2023. As the five-day May Day holidays draw near, many places around China have entered a warming-up period with soaring tourist arrivals. The "hottest" travel season in five years is expected, with bookings rising as much as 200 percent from 2019, said online travel platforms. Photo: VCG

China's domestic consumption is expected to further revive during the upcoming May Day holidays, which will fall from April 29 to May 3, amid a boom in travel.

Industry insiders expect an explosive market response in the tourism sector to inject more momentum into domestic consumption, signaling Chinese consumers' confidence in the nation's economic recovery with strengthened government support. 

As of April 20, searches for domestic flights on Chinese online travel service Trip.com had risen more than 290 percent year-on-year, while recovering to 110 percent of the same period in 2019. 

Searches for hotels increased more than nine times year-on-year and nearly doubled compared with 2019, data shared with the Global Times by Trip.com showed. 

Bookings for Zibo in East China's Shandong Province, a recent top trending city on Chinese social media for its barbecue, surged by 441 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

More than 80 percent of surveyed netizens plan to travel during the holidays, compared with just 38.1 percent last year, data from the iiMedia Research Institute showed on Sunday. 

So far this year, China's domestic tourism industry has basically recovered to the same level - and in some cases beyond - as in 2019, and another boost is expected for the May Day holidays, Xu Xiaolei, marketing manager at China's CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times on Sunday, adding that the sector is likely to achieve a further recovery. 

Zhang Yi, CEO of the iiMedia Research Institute, said that momentum is also being boosted by the nation's ongoing economic recovery as shown by recent official data, which has further reassured consumers.

Industry insiders said that short- or medium-distance family trips will be the major pattern for the May Day holidays, while medium- to long-distance tours are also rebounding. 

Traveling within provinces, cities and cross-provincial trips are the top trends, Zhang told the Global Times on Sunday. 

According to a survey by the institute, 39.7 percent of respondents preferred traveling within their provinces, 24.6 percent chose their local cities and 21.4 percent selected cross-provincial travel. 

Outbound tours are also picking up. A latest example is the first batch of post-pandemic Chinese tourists to visit Tanzania, and they arrived on Saturday local time, China Media Group reported.  

Data from Trip.com showed that searches for outbound flights had recovered to 120 percent of the same period of 2019. 

A tourist holds a sign that reads "Thailand loves Shanghai people" at a Shanghai airport on February 6, 2023. A tour group departed from the airport and flew to Thailand's Phuket, one of the first Chinese tour groups to head abroad following China's resumption of outbound group tours. Photo: Chen Xia/GT

A Chinese tourist takes a selfie with Thai staff members at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, Feb 6, 2023. Photo:Xinhua

While the nation is set to witness a travel boom, Xu and Zhang outlined some challenges, stressing the importance for companies and responsible authorities to prepare and deploy appropriate responses. 

Local authorities and companies have been stepping up efforts to ensure a smooth travel experience for the holidays. 

More than 10,500 passenger trains will be operated from April 27 to May 4 every day, with 1,500 additional trains being arranged, according to China Railway. 

Official data showed that 46.57 million rail tickets had been sold out for the holidays as of 2 pm on Saturday, with tight supplies for popular routes such as Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Qingdao and Shenzhen-Changsha.  

More than 9 million air trips are expected to be made. Some 65,000 domestic flights carrying more than 12 million passengers and 3,500 international flights are planned to operate during the holidays, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

For instance, the China Southern Airlines will offer extra routes for popular destinations in Southeast Asia with 25 round trips per day, the company told the Global Times.

On March 24, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released a guidance to promote the high-quality development of tourism, highlighting the significance of a favorable market environment with improving regulation. 

Experts said that the current impact of any COVID-19 outbreak on domestic travel seems minimal.