Trip.com's data from the first day of the May Day holiday shows strong travel momentum both domestically and internationally. While domestic travel remained robust with attraction ticket bookings rising nearly 20% year-on-year, inbound and outbound tourism outpaced it with inbound travel orders surged by 141% compared to the previous year.
Top domestic destinations on Trip.com for the holiday’s first day included Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Xi’an.
Amid growing pressure on traditional high-traffic destinations, the trend of "reverse tourism"—visiting less conventional locations—is gaining momentum. Interest surged in lower-tier cities, counties, and rural areas. County-level tourism orders on Trip.com rose nearly 20% year-on-year, while rural travel bookings grew over 40%. Scenic spots in destinations such as Libo in Guizhou, Benxi in Liaoning, Qingyuan in Guangdong, Anji in Zhejiang, Luoyang in Henan, Wulong in Chongqing, and Yichang in Hubei saw an average 50% increase in attraction ticket validations compared to the previous year.
Outbound travel orders on Trip.com also recorded double-digit year-on-year growth. Meanwhile, inbound travel continued its upward trajectory with a 141% increase in orders. Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore remained the top picks for outbound Chinese tourists. For inbound tourism, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Xi’an, Qingdao, and Zhuhai ranked as the top 10 destinations on the first day of the holiday.
