China will experience the bleakest 1/5 holiday

People working in the service – tourism industry in China said that the spending ability that people spend during the May 1 holiday (from April 30 to May 4) will be weak. The reason is that the country is grappling with its worst outbreak since Covid-19 was discovered in Wuhan more than two years ago. Domestic travel is limited. Besides, the government is still firmly following the Zero-Covid policy. This upsets the five-day holiday that many had planned in advance.

Ryan Duan, 24 years old living in Beijing, has planned to visit Tibet next holiday. But he had to cancel because of the strict quarantine rules of the place he was about to visit. He is concerned that he may not be able to enter, or have to be quarantined, because many provinces in China are now denying visitors if they come from epidemic-risk areas. “I can’t go anywhere if Beijing is still in the risk zone,” Duan said.

Zhou Mingqi, founder of travel consulting firm Jingjian Consulting, said spending is likely to drop sharply. “There are still dozens of cities under lockdown. This has a huge impact on visitor spending. There is little reason for anyone to believe this will be a promising holiday.”

Meanwhile, the Beijing government urged people to stay at home during the next five-day holiday. At the same time, the country’s authorities limit the number and capacity of crowds in public and sightseeing places.

The three-day Qingming Festival in early April has also been affected by the outbreak. According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the number of trips on this occasion reached 68% over the same period in 2019. Tourism revenue decreased by 30.9% compared to 2021 and reached only 18.78 billion yuan ( $2.9 billion).

Economist Wang Lisheng said: “The latest wave of Omicrons has dealt a heavy blow to China’s consumption, especially for direct services such as travel and dining. The negative impact of the epidemic. may last until the end of April, even longer”.

Iris Pang, chief economist at ING Bank, added: “We can only hope that local authorities can put in place more relief measures for those affected small businesses on this occasion.”

Last year, China recorded a strong recovery on the occasion of May 1, with domestic tourism increasing even more than before the epidemic. Specifically, 230 million trips were made in five days, an increase of nearly 120% compared to 2020 and 3.2% higher than before the pandemic. Tourism revenue also increased by 138.1% over the same period in 2020, reaching 77% compared to before the epidemic.

Along with National Day in early October, Labor Day is a long holiday in China. Usually, this is the occasion when people flock to travel.

Mr. Minh (According to SCMP)