Tourists watch lion dance at the Hong'an ancient town in Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, southwest China's Chongqing, April 30, 2023. China is witnessing a travel boom during this year's five-day May Day holiday. (Photo by Hu Cheng/Xinhua)

China's outbound travel significantly rebounded during this year's May Day holidays along with the recovery of the Chinese economy and the resumption of multiple international air routes. 

Analysts said that the return of Chinese tourists is a key catalyst to revive global tourism and the world economy, especially for countries that rely on Chinese tourists such as Thailand and Malaysia.

Outbound air bookings during the five-day-long holidays (from April 29 to Wednesday) recovered to 45 percent of the levels during the same holidays in pre-pandemic 2019, according to data from travel portal Qunar.com sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

Bangkok in Thailand, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Singapore, and China's Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions were among the hot destinations, the data showed.

Data from online travel agency Trip.com showed that the number of Chinese mainland tourists traveling to the United Arab Emirates, Maldives and Macao Special Administrative Region surpassed the number seen during the same period in 2019.

In addition to traditionally popular destinations, some niche places were also hot among Chinese travelers who prefer immersive experiences.

In mid-April, group tours on Trip.com that were to depart during the May Day holidays to Europe and the Middle East were nearly sold out. Shanghai-based travel agency Spring Tour told the Global Times it launched tours to Spain, Portugal, Iran and Russia in late April, which would run throughout the holidays.

"Spain has been my dream destination, and the 11-day trip to Spain and Portugal fits our plan perfectly," a Chinese tourist surnamed Xu said, who signed up for a Spring Tour product and started her honeymoon on April 26.

Since China resumed outbound group tours to a total of 60 countries, Chinese travel agencies have been busy meeting the travelers' pent-up demand.

The National Immigration Administration estimated last week that an average of 1.2 million inbound and outbound visitors were expected per day during the May Day holidays, doubling the number seen for the period last year.

To meet surging travel demand, Beijing Daxing International Airport added about 20 overseas routes to cities including Seoul, Amsterdam and Moscow.

Along with the removal of pandemic-related travel restrictions, the increase of international flights and the recovery of outbound group tours, China's outbound tourism market may further rebound for the rest of 2023, Zhang Lingyun, a member of the academic committee of the China Tourism Academy, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

However, external uncertainties and growing geopolitical tensions may impact Chinese tourists' choice of overseas destinations, with more likely to travel in Asia, especially to Southeast Asian sites, Zhang said.

"Chinese consumers' pent-up consumption during the May Day holidays indicates that their expectations weren't affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, anti-globalization and other factors," Cao Heping, an economist at Peking University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Chinese people account for about one-sixth of the world's population, and their willingness to travel abroad will give a huge boost to global tourism recovery and the world economy, especially countries friendly to Chinese, such as Thailand and Malaysia, Cao said.

China was the largest contributor to outbound tourism, with 155 million trips made in 2019 and their overseas consumption exceeding $133.8 billion, according to data released by the China Tourism Academy. 

The reopening of China's outbound tourism injected impetus into the global economic recovery, especially tourism-oriented countries and regions.

Hong Kong SAR, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore would benefit the most if the Chinese mainland's travel service imports were to return to 2019 levels, CNN reported, citing Goldman Sachs analysts.

Hong Kong could see an estimated 7.6 percent boost to GDP as exports and tourism income increase, they said. Thailand's GDP may be boosted by 2.9 percent, while Singapore GDP would get a lift of 1.2 percent, the report said.