CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- The summer travel season for 2024 started on July 1. The Big Data Research Institute estimates that the summer holiday will become the longest peak of the year for travel, with parent-child t tours and college student trips accounting for a significant percentage of summer travel.

Qunar’s data finds that the popular destinations for spur-of-the-moment trips with air tickets purchased one week ahead include Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Guiyang, Harbin, Changsha, Tianjin, and Wuhan. Although tourists booked the flights one week in advance, the tax-inclusive prices for flights to these well-like cities averaged around 700 yuan per person, and the mean price of the hotels in these cities was less than 300 yuan per night.

Various scenic spots in Chongqing have been well-prepared for the upcoming peak travel season. For example, Mexin Wine Town has created a Starlight Night Market, with hundreds of stalls offering a wide array of delicacies, handicrafts, and cultural and creative products to meet the diverse needs of tourists. Adjacent to the main venue of the Water Park Electronic Music Festival and the land-based night-time parent-child amusement park in Mexin Wine Town, the Starlight Night Market will allow tourists to savor the culinary delights, enjoy spectacular performances, and indulge in exciting amusement events.

With the recovery of supply and demand in the tourism industry, the domestic aviation market this year will experience more intense competition, said the Big Data Research Institute of Qunar. Consumers are more sensitive to the changes in air ticket prices and have a lower tolerance for the increase in air ticket prices during holidays. They may wait for the airfare to decrease or opt for the high-speed rail.

The hotel industry, which has a more abundant supply, is engaged in an even fiercer price war. Except for some characterful and scarce hotels that have the confidence to raise prices during the peak season, most hotels have chosen to stabilize or even lower their prices to increase occupancy rates. Qunar’s big data shows that as of now, the average payment price for air tickets has dropped by 6% compared to the same period last year, and the mean price of mid-star hotels that were unaffordable last summer has decreased by 8%.

The summer travel season this year has seen the largest increase in the number of mainline and regional flights in the northwest region, including the Lanzhou/Xi'an – Jiayuguan, Zhengzhou – Altay, and Nanjing – Dunhuang flight services. Qunar’s big data reveals that the aviation market in the northwest started faster this summer. In addition to Yili, Altay, and other places in Xinjiang, the popularity of Lanzhou and Xining has begun to rise; Harbin and Changchun in northeast China, Datong in Shanxi Province, and Jiayuguan in Gansu Province have experienced rapid growth in the number of tourists; the increasing popularity of Inner Mongolia as a tourist destination has also been significant. These cities are well-like domestic tourist destinations this summer.

Summer will also be the busiest season of the year for outbound travel. The Big Data Research Institute estimates that the number of outbound tourists has increased while the travel costs have decreased this summer. So far, the number of international air tickets reserved by tourists on Qunar's platform has increased by 1.5 times year-on-year. The tourism industry is experiencing vigorous demand for outbound tourism this summer and is expected to basically recover to the level of 2019. (Translated by Yuki, Fathom Language Limited)