(Yicai Global) Feb. 3 -- Searches for trips to go to China's Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao surged after the mainland's cabinet said it will lift all Covid-era restrictions on visitor flows on Feb. 6.

After the State Council's announcement today, searches related to tourism, including flight and hotel bookings, skyrocketed on Chinese travel platforms. Since January, there have been daily limits on passenger flows at ports of entry even though the mainland has eased its quarantine requirements.

The volume of searches jumped more than three times immediately after the notice and views of package tours to the two regions surged by 180 percent, per Trip.Com data.

Tongcheng Travel, also known as LY.Com, said that the number of searches for travel to Hong Kong instantly soared by almost five times and that of Macao trips jumped over four times.

Online travel agency Mafengwo said that "hotels in Hong Kong" immediately became a trending search term, up by four times. People were keen on looking up information on food and transport too.

Another travel agency Qunar.Com revealed that searches for air tickets to and from Hong Kong increased by seven times in half an hour since the announcement.

There were nearly 270 direct flights per week from 26 mainland cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu, to Hong Kong as of Feb. 1. Over the past seven days, ticket prices of more than 20 percent of the routes have been lower than during the same period of 2019.

The two SARs are striving to stimulate post-Covid tourism. From March 1, Hong Kong will give away 500,000 air tickets worth HKD2 billion (USD254.9 million) to different destinations within six months. Besides the mainland, the destinations include Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries, the SAR government announced yesterday.

Macao will grant 120,000 air tickets for free for passengers to come from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, and abroad via its 2023 discount scheme, basically the same number as in the past three years, Macao Daily reported today, citing the tourism office.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi