Crazy queues as millions of Chinese tourists go on vacation

Millions of Chinese tourists often spend their week-long vacations traveling abroad.

This year, travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic mean that some 600 million tourists, about 40 percent of the population, will travel within China during the holidays that began Thursday, according to Ctrip, the travel agency in China’s largest line.

That is still 25 percent less than last year, when tourists made 782 million domestic trips and generated tourism revenue of 650 billion yuan (NZ $ 143.3 billion), according to government data. The drop comes as some in China are wary of the coronavirus and choose not to join the Christmas rush. The country’s borders are closed to international visitors.

This year’s eight-day holiday, which coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, will be a litmus test to determine whether China’s tourism industry can bounce back after the blows it received earlier in the year.

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Travel within the country, and sometimes even within cities, was restricted beginning with the Lunar New Year when China battled the spread of the coronavirus that emerged in the central city of Wuhan and has sickened more than 34 million people, killing to more than a million.

The week-long vacation in October is usually the busiest time for domestic travel.

As the world’s highest-spending tourists spend their money on domestic travel, local governments are offering discounts and subsidies to tourists, including free or heavily discounted tickets to attractions.

Zhao Kerui, a designer with a flexible work schedule, often takes several trips abroad each year. Last year he visited Malaysia and Japan. He had planned to visit Istanbul in Turkey or Jeju Island in South Korea this year, but eventually decided to visit cities such as Chengdu, known for being the home of pandas, as well as picturesque Guilin, famous for its limestone karst hills.

“To make a trip abroad, they will quarantine him for half a month when he arrives, and when he comes back, it will be another half month of quarantine,” Zhao said. “A month has passed without you doing anything at all. “

Cao Ke, a Shanghai-based research scientist, used to spend his National Day vacation relaxing on the beaches of Thailand’s Phuket Island. This year he’s heading to the southern coastal province of Fujian in China, hoping to snap some good photos.

“Generally, I prefer to travel abroad, because there are too many people who travel within the country and accommodation and meals become very expensive,” Cao said.

That’s a sentiment shared by many Chinese who can afford to travel abroad on vacation, but are now banned by flight cancellations and quarantine restrictions. Thailand, one of the most popular destinations for Chinese travelers, closed its airports to international commercial flights in April and has yet to fully reopen to tourism.

So instead, Chinese visitors will flock to popular attractions such as the Disneyland resort in Shanghai and the research base for panda breeding in the southwestern city of Chengdu, according to the Ctrip report.

China is one of the few countries in the world where millions of people travel freely around the country, while most countries discourage unnecessary travel while fighting coronavirus outbreaks.

China has reported no new locally transmitted coronavirus infections since Aug. 16, and last month the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism eased restrictions on tourist sites, allowing them to operate at 75 percent of capacity. . Visitors are also encouraged to obey the rules of social distancing during their travels.

The number of tourists at top attractions across the country increased nearly 159% in the second quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter, at the height of pandemic closures.

The number of tourists visiting resorts and engaged in rural tourism in July and August was about 90 percent of last year’s level, Shan Gangxin, an official with the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism, told reporters in Beijing this week.

Hotel bookings are 50 percent higher compared to last year, and airline bookings are on par with 2019, thanks to discounts on hotels and flights, according to data from Fliggy, the travel division. online from Alibaba.

Zeng Xiaoqi, a 24-year-old nurse from central China’s Hunan Province, planned a trip to Beijing for the holidays to celebrate her mother’s 50th birthday.

“Before I left, I did the nucleic acid test in my hometown and called the tourist sites I wanted to go to to ask if the site is open during the holiday week and how tickets can be reserved,” Zeng said. “I didn’t leave until all the preparation was done.”

He said he was not concerned with traveling within China, as most areas are currently at fairly low risk when it comes to coronavirus.

However, as a precautionary measure, Zeng said she was well equipped with masks, hand sanitizer and wet tissues for the flight and high-speed train to Beijing.

Rail authorities said they expect 108 million train trips to be made between Monday, September 28 and October 8, or an average of nearly 10 million per day. Overall, the number of train and airline passengers is still forecast to be lower than in previous years amid concerns that the restrictions could be re-imposed if new cases are detected.

Like many other Chinese, Zhao plans to stick with domestic travel for the next few months.

“To be honest, it is the same if I travel abroad or around China,” he said. “I do it to relax.”