Holiday travel boom fuels cultural tourism

Combining leave days with spring breaks fueled a strong year-on-year surge in travel demand during the recent May Day holiday. Medium and long-distance cross-provincial trips dominated, while travelers embraced increasingly diverse experiences, from flower-viewing to immersive cultural tours, according to online travel agency Trip.com Group.

As interest in history and traditional culture continues to grow, visits to ancient cities and hands-on experiences of intangible cultural heritage crafts have become hallmarks of May Day travel. Trip.com Group reported that bookings for in-depth cultural tours during the holiday jumped 52.3 percent year-on-year.

Luoyang in Henan province stood out as a prime example. Tourists dressed in hanfu, traditional Chinese attire, filled the city's streets, transforming them into a living historical tableau. Major visitor sources included Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an in Shaanxi province, Wuhan in Hubei province and Chengdu in Sichuan province. Beyond admiring Luoyang's famed peonies, travelers flocked to landmarks such as the Longmen Grottoes and White Horse Temple.

Travel linked to live performances and sporting events also surged during the holiday. More than 100 concerts, music festivals and sporting events were held nationwide around the May Day period. According to Trip.com Group, attendance at domestic performances, festivals and sports events rose 30.6 percent year-on-year.

The 2026 Jiangsu Football City League, popularly known as suchao, became one of the holiday's standout attractions. During the May Day break, Jiangsu ranked among the country's top three provinces for tourist arrivals.

Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, along with Chengdu in Sichuan province, were the leading inbound tourism destinations during the holiday. Expanded visa-free policies and increased international flight capacity also encouraged more overseas visitors to explore less traditional destinations. Zhangjiajie in Hunan province, famed for its mountain landscapes, recorded an 80.3 percent year-on-year increase in inbound tourist arrivals.

Russia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the United States were the top five inbound source countries during the holiday. Arrivals from Russia alone surged 120.1 percent year-on-year.