A report on homestay bookings during the Spring Festival in 2022 unveiled a growing trend of local travels, with snow, countryside and family tourism at the center
Homestay orders near sites with snow and ice jumped over 70% during this year's week-long Spring Festival holiday (January 31 to February 4), as the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics intensified people's interests in winter sports, a report found.
According to Muniao, an online booking platform for short-term rental, despite a relative lack of snowfall, seven out of the top 10 snow-related tourist destinations were southern cities, with Shanghai topping the list, highlighting the immense interest of local residents in winter activities.
The site revealed in a report on domestic tourism during the Spring Festival that homestay orders during this period leaped 50% compared to the same period last year.
As local governments advised people to stay put for the holiday amid heightened concerns about a surge in Covid-19 infections, intra-provincial and inter-city excursions remained popular.
Homestays near first-tier cities saw explosive growth, with Beijing coming in at the top, but the report didn't specify the numbers.
Countryside jaunts during the seven-day holiday also grew 40% year on year, with travelers born between 1980 and 2000 accounting for 52% of the total.
Family homestay bookings increased by almost 80% month on month, making it a significant market for travel operators who expected strong sales during the festival. Hot spring resort was also a hit, whose orders were up by 28%.
As young consumers are willing to spend more on tourism, they open their wallets to choose accommodations and tourist experiences that offer better qualities, and the report suggests they focus especially on hygiene, safety and uniqueness.
Average booking price during the seven-day holiday spiked 137% year on year while orders for high-end rental homes on the Muniao platform shot up 45% over a year earlier, statistics show.
The report's findings align with last year's trend of tourism recovery, where orders on Muniao in 2021 leaped 120% compared to the same period in 2020 when Covid ravaged the tourism sector. Countryside homestay bookings surged 140% year on year.
According to Muniao's statistics, about 55% of new shared home hosts in 2021 were women, who also represented 61% of the website's bookings last year.