Travel bags are out for May Day holiday

Meanwhile, Chinese travelers have continued to show enthusiasm for overseas trips, and they are expected to visit over 1,300 cities worldwide, up by more than 290 cities over the same holiday period last year, according to Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency.

Fueled by favorable visa policies issued by multiple countries to Chinese visitors and the launch of more international flights, some short-haul and mid-haul overseas destinations have become hot choices for Chinese consumers, and many employees have asked for a few days off from work to combine with the current holiday period.

For the May Day holiday, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore have seen robust bookings of hotels by Chinese mainland travelers. Emerging destinations such as Qatar, Austria, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Norway have seen rapid growth in hotel bookings, thanks to their unique tourism resources, Trip.com found.

In addition, Chinese travelers have become more interested in taking chartered tours, and the overall booking volumes of chartered tours during the holiday have grown by nearly 25 percent year-on-year. Particularly, bookings for such tours to Japan have jumped by 60 percent on a yearly basis, Trip.com said.

Still, many tourists tend to book their travel products at the last minute, instead of in advance, and the tourism market is likely to see more significant changes, said Tuniu Corp, a Nanjing, Jiangsu province-based online travel agency.

Viewing cherry blossoms tops the list of activities this year, and a large number of Chinese visitors are opting for flower viewing tours.

"Viewing cherry blossoms in Japan has been popular since the start of the season this spring. Despite the season coming to an end in most areas of Japan, Chinese tourists have remained passionate about traveling to Japan," said Qi Chunguang, vice-president of Tuniu.

Lily Wang, a 30-year-old office employee in Shanghai, plans to fly by domestic budget carrier Spring Airlines to Saga, Japan, during the May Day holiday. She said she has visited Japan multiple times and found its charm unique during each such visit.

"Extra direct flights have been launched between China and Japan, especially between Shanghai and some niche Japanese destinations, and the travel package comes at a good price, making it quite convenient for travel," Wang said.

Meanwhile, Chinese consumers' demand for domestic tours is also rising sharply, and residents from top-tier and second-tier cities remain the backbone of those who plan to travel.

With vibrant spring days around and temperatures rising across China, cities in the southern part of the country such as Wuxi, Jiangsu province; Hangzhou and Shaoxing in Zhejiang province; and Wuhan, Hubei province; are expected to welcome more tourists, Tuniu said.

Northern coastal cities such as Qingdao and Weihai in Shandong province, and Dalian, Liaoning province, are also expected to welcome more tourists, Tuniu said.

A surge in travel demand has also driven business growth for airlines, and carriers are launching new flights or adding frequencies on existing routes to cater to growing numbers.

For instance, Tianjin Airlines has launched flights connecting Yantai with Dalian, Hangzhou, and Ningbo, and the one-way flight ticket rate is as low as 300 yuan ($41.2) per person.

In Northwest China, Tianjin Airlines has launched multiple cross-regional routes with Xi'an, Shaanxi province, as its hub, such as routes connecting Xi'an with Songyuan, Jilin province; Rizhao, Shandong province; and Taizhou, Zhejiang province.

Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific Airways launched direct flights connecting Hong Kong and Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, starting Monday.

The new four-flights-per-week return service will take the airline's passenger network in the Chinese mainland to 20 destinations.