May Day holiday bookings reach early peak for 2023

Data from online service platforms Meituan and Dianping showed the booking peak for May Day holiday came early this year compared to previous years, Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday.

Domestic bookings for the five-day May Day holiday on Meituan increased 200 percent compared to 2019 as of April 10, the highest in five years.

Among these, accommodation bookings were at the same level as April 25, 2019, two weeks earlier than in 2019.

Chongqing, Xi'an, Changsha, Chengdu, Wuhan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou were the top 10 destinations.

People in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing and Wuhan also reported they were more enthusiastic about travel.

Shandong province is expected to become a hot spot during the holiday, with accommodation bookings on Meituan up 400 percent compared to 2019, and Qingdao, Weihai, Jinan and Yantai took four spots on the list of the 20 most popular cities.

During the holiday, several nearby destinations are expected to form a synergistic effect that will boost regional consumption, said Lu Mengxi, head of Meituan's culture and tourism department.