(Yicai Global) April 6 -- China's tourism sector is recovering quickly as ticket bookings during the three-day Qingming holiday surged with big expectations for the next public holiday in May.

Flight orders rose by 40 percent from the same period in 2019 and hotel bookings jumped by 50 percent, online travel agency Qunar said in a statement yesterday. The Tomb Sweeping Day holiday ended yesterday.

The demand is only expected to surge. Tourism will majorly rebound during the upcoming five-day May Day holiday and summer as the weather is getting warmer and an increasing number of people are getting vaccinated against the Covid-19, said Lan Xiang, head of Qunar’s Big Data research institute.

Suppressed Demand

The reason behind the spike during the most recent public holiday was the earlier suppressed demand due to the pandemic, Lan added.

Beijing and Shanghai were the top two most popular destinations, according to Qunar. But southwestern China's Chengdu, southwest-central Chongqing, southern Guangzhou, and central Xi’an were also popular. Moreover, many chose to go to Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Kunming, and Changsha.

Travel bookings, including those of flights and hotels, jumped by more than five times during Qingming from 2020, according to a report released by Alibaba Group Holding's travel agency Fliggy yesterday. Bed&breakfast reservations increased by more than 16 times and ticket bookings for tourist attractions rose over 20 times.

Travelers selected B&Bs and suburban resorts as they wanted to go and see springtime flowers, according to Fliggy. Some of the popular spots were in eastern China's Zhejiang province, including Mogan Mountain in Deqing, Qiandao Lake in Chun'an, and Wuzhen water town.

Hotel and event bookings on travel site operator Mafengwo Network Technology were basically the same as in 2019, but the number of train tickets more than doubled, according to the firm.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi