Interest in outing was building up before spring and peaked with a large volume of related searches just before the Spring Festival, according to a report released by Chinese OTA giant Trip.com and weather forecast platform Moji.  Spring blossom tours are popular, leading to over 40% year-on-year increase in ticket bookings for related attractions.

Two-day trips

Trip.com recorded the highest number of searches on January 27 for spring tours in March and April, and the bookings for such tours peaked on February 1, the first day of the 2022 Spring Festival, reflecting keen interest in enjoying the new season. Short-haul trips were most popular –two-day trips accounted for over 70% of the bookings and one-day trips made up 14%. Most of these trips were made on weekends.

In terms of age groups, 30% of the travelers were the Post-80s, and about 60% were the Post-90s and Post-2000s. Most of the Post-90s and Post-2000s traveled with friends or couples, and shared their experiences on social platform WeChat Moment. They contributed to nearly 30% of the photography tours. The Post-80s were more likely to take their kids to theme parks, which saw 28% year-on-year growth in ticket bookings. The senior group with time and money to travel were keen on self-driving tours.

Bookings for spring blossom tours up by 40% 

Searches for spring blossom tours spiked for the season, and ticket bookings for scenic spots to admire flowers were up by over 40% compared to the same period of last year.

Over 60% of the bookings were made by locals or travelers from neighboring cities. Some traveled long distance to visit cities which are famous for their blooms. Nanjing, Wuxi, Shanghai, Linzhi, Xi’an, Luoyang and Wuhan were among the most popular destinations.

Camping bookings increased by 120% 

Camping has been popular since last year. In the past week, the number of searches for camping products on Trip.com went up by 80%, and bookings for camping in March and April increased by 120% compared to last month. Family trips accounted for 45% of the total bookings.

Zoos and botanical gardens were also among the most frequently-visited sites by family travelers. Data show that tickets for zoos and botanical gardens booked by families were up by 25% from last year.