The "May Day" holiday has entered the countdown, and terms such as "air ticket diving" and "refund" have been widely discussed on social platforms.
The reporter searched and found that on April 30, the topic of "canceled May Day because of the weather" rushed to the hot search on Weibo, and affected by the "May Day" stormy weather in many places, many netizens said in the comments that "it is not comfortable to go out on a rainy day".
In addition, there are also many tourists who refund and rebuy tickets due to "air ticket diving" before departure.
Some netizens said that the refunded ticket was rebooked after deducting the handling fee, and it was 500 yuan less. Some netizens said: "I have a family of three, the original price is 2,300 yuan, and I bought it again after returning it, saving 700 yuan."
Some netizens showed in the notes posted on social platforms that the round-trip ticket prices from Shanghai to Hohhot in their two screenshots were 2,605 yuan and 933 yuan respectively, a difference of 2.79 times. Two of the round-trip flights are China Eastern Airlines flights, with the same outbound flight and different return flights.
The netizen said in the comments of his notes that he "successfully defended his rights, and the price difference handling fee has been refunded".
However, some netizens said that after a loss of more than 1,800 yuan, the airline and customer service did not give a refund.
Some industry insiders said that due to the recent weather, flights in individual cities have been affected, which is in line with the airline's refund rules. There are also some consumers who purchase tickets through online travel platforms and choose to include a service package when purchasing tickets, and they can also enjoy the corresponding refund service.
"May Day" tourism market
Bookings per person and value per booking both increased
However, in the process of interviewing a number of online travel platforms and hotels, the reporter found that this year's "May Day" tourism market as a whole is "volume rise and price fall".
Judging from the number of orders, the "May Day" holiday travel market ushered in a booking boom.
According to Meituan data, as of April 24, the number of cultural tourism bookings (including scenic spots, accommodation, transportation, etc.) during the May Day holiday increased by more than 190% week-on-week, with Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Changsha, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, and Qingdao being the top 10 popular destinations in the country. On the Qunar platform, as of April 24, the number of hotel bookings in popular cities has nearly doubled compared to last year. Fliggy's data shows that the popularity of domestic travel bookings for domestic travel during this year's May Day holiday continued to significantly exceed that of the same period in 2019, with both per capita bookings and per capita booking value increasing. Among them, the number of bookings for group tours has doubled, and the number of car rental bookings has increased by more than 5 times.
According to the data of RV Life, as of mid-April, the number of RV bookings on the platform during the "May Day" period increased by more than 50% compared with the same period last year, and the number of bookings in the past week increased by more than 120% month-on-month, with an average booking duration of 4.8 days, and the number of RV travel product bookings increased by more than 130%.
In terms of accommodation, according to the operating data of Jin Jiang Hotels (China), as of April 26, the comprehensive booking rate of the "May Day" holiday increased by more than 6% compared with the same period last year, and the overall booking trend is good. According to data from Tujia B&B, as of April 24, the average number of bookings in popular cities on the whole platform increased by 20% compared with last year, making it the hottest "May Day" for B&Bs.
There are also many tourists who choose the strategy of "please take 3 days off and 9 off", which has led to the fire of long-term travel at home and abroad.
According to Tuniu's report, in terms of travel distance, domestic long-haul travel is the choice of more tourists during this year's May Day holiday, accounting for 46% of the total number of trips, while outbound travel has increased significantly, accounting for 31% of the total number of trips.
According to Meituan data, Xi'an and Chengdu are popular starting cities for Northwest and Western Sichuan Ring Tours, and the popularity of "May Day" cultural tourism bookings ranks among the top 10 in the country. "During the May Day period, we mainly focus on long-term travel routes in Sichuan. This year, the Jiuzhaigou and western Sichuan routes are very popular, and accommodation along the line is basically difficult to find. A travel agency in Sichuan said.
According to Fliggy's report, outbound travel has peaked on May Day this year, with bookings for related services recording a strong growth of nearly 100% on top of last year's rapid rebound.
"May Day" machine wine reservation "volume rise and price fall"
The per capita purchase price of international air tickets decreased by 19% year-on-year
However, overall, during this year's May Day holiday, the prices of air tickets and accommodation both fell year-on-year.
Qunar data shows that as of April 29, the average price paid for air tickets in popular cities during the May Day holiday decreased by 5% year-on-year. Same-trip travel data shows that as of 2 p.m. on April 29, the average ticket price of domestic air tickets during the May Day holiday fell by about 10% year-on-year.
However, the data of Tongcheng Travel shows that the fares of some popular routes still increased by different degrees compared with the same period last year, and the fares of some regional routes increased by more than 50% compared with the same period last year, and the fares increased and decreased as a whole.
Tongcheng Travel's report pointed out that from the perspective of demand, the overall demand for civil aviation travel during this year's "May Day" holiday remained high, and the average price of air tickets during the holiday rose by more than 20% compared with the average price of the week before the holiday, and the average price of some routes rose by more than 100% compared with the average price of the week before the holiday.
Tongcheng Travel said that according to relevant statistics, the number of domestic flights taking off and landing during this year's May Day holiday increased by more than 30% compared with the same period in 2019. The increase in air transport capacity during the holiday period has further improved the cost-effectiveness of civil aviation travel, which is conducive to stimulating people's willingness to travel for a long time.
International airfares also fell. Fliggy's data shows that during the May Day period, the per capita purchase price of international air tickets fell by 19% year-on-year.
During the May Day holiday, the price of accommodation in China also dropped considerably. Qunar data shows that as of April 29, the average price paid by hotels in popular cities during the "May Day" period decreased by 15% year-on-year.
The reporter learned from a number of hotels that the prices of many regional chain hotels during this year's "May Day" holiday were lower than the same period last year. A person familiar with a hotel group told reporters that as of April 29, the average daily room rate of the group's hotels during this year's "May Day" holiday decreased by about 7% year-on-year.
Why is the price of organic wine falling?
The recovery of the supply chain has led to a rationalization of supply and demand
An insider of a listed hotel group told reporters that according to its internal analysis and discussion, the most important reason for the decline in the average price of hotels on May Day this year is demand. On the one hand, last year's "revenge travel" included not only personal travel, but also business travel, which led to a sharp increase in demand for hotels in many places, and on the other hand, last year's supply has not yet fully recovered, so there is also a certain "short supply" situation. The combination of these two factors caused the price of hotels to rise sharply last year.
"For example, a hotel in one of our areas, because last year the hotel had some rooms still being renovated, so it was not all the rooms in the hotel that were opened, and this year after all the rooms were fully opened, the occupancy rate of the hotel did not rise but fell, but this does not mean that the hotel is not doing well. The above-mentioned hotel person said.
The report of Tujia B&B also shows that with the continuous enhancement of the vitality of the market economy and the comprehensive recovery of the entire B&B supply chain, the supply of high-quality B&Bs continues to increase, and the price of B&Bs on May Day this year is the same as last year, and the average price of some popular cities has decreased by about 10% year-on-year.
Liu Yang, Chief Commercial Officer of Tujia B&B, said: "After more than a year, the B&B industry has achieved recovery and growth. At present, the supply side has fully recovered, and it has the ability to provide guests with a variety of accommodation options during the holiday season. "The growth of the supply side has also made the price of homestays more affordable. According to Liu Yang, during the May Day period, the prices of homestays in popular cities on the Tujia platform all dropped slightly year-on-year, such as Chongqing by 12%, Beijing by 17%, and Fuzhou by 22%.
Xiao Peng, a researcher at Qunar Big Data Research Institute, said in an interview with reporters that from the perspective of bookings, the number of tourists during this year's "May Day" period will exceed that of 2023, but the average price paid for air tickets and hotels in the popular tourist city of Changsha has declined. Third, with the resumption of outbound tourism and the discovery of more and more small cities, tourists no longer gather in big cities, relieving the pressure on big cities.
In addition, Xiao Peng stressed that during the peak travel hours on the afternoon of April 30, May 1 and May 5, the ticket prices of popular routes have not dropped significantly.
"May Day" domestic tourism "more flowers"
The popularity of small cities is much higher than that of the same period last year
It is worth noting that during this year's "May Day" holiday, domestic cities "bloomed in more places", and the popularity of some small cities far exceeded that of the same period last year.
According to the report of Tujia B&B, there are no unpopular cities on May Day this year.
"Last year, it was only 3 days in advance, but this year it was booked 20 days in advance. The landlord of a homestay in Pingtan in Fuzhou said. On the Tujia platform, with the spectacle of blue tears, Fuzhou became the second most popular city in the country on May Day, second only to Chongqing.
As of April 24, 88% of the homestays in Jingdezhen have been sold out on the Tujia platform, 86% in Datong, 83% in Pingtan and 78% in Zibo...... Although the number of bookings for homestays in some popular cities has exceeded the inventory by 80%, there has not been a situation such as the difficulty in finding a room in Zibo during the "May Day" period last year.
According to the data of Jin Jiang Hotels (China), hotels in some key tourist provinces and cities have shown signs of saturation of bookings, among which Jingdezhen, Zhangjiajie, Huangshan and other tourist destinations favored by Chinese and foreign tourists have a comprehensive booking rate of nearly 80%; Zibo, which was popular last year, is currently hot, with a booking rate of nearly 70%; in addition, Hangzhou, Quanzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Fuzhou, Yangzhou, Xi'an, Changsha and Beijing and other traditional popular tourist destinations have a comprehensive booking rate of more than 50%.
According to data from Huazhu Group, as of April 23, the booking rate of hotels in Chengdu and Chongqing increased by 3 percentage points year-on-year. The hotel booking rate of Tianshui, a "new Internet celebrity", increased by 10 percentage points year-on-year. In addition, third- and fourth-tier cities, such as Jingdezhen, Hohhot, Shantou, Zhongwei, etc., have seen their hotel bookings increase by more than 10 percentage points year-on-year on May Day this year.
Meituan's data shows that Tianshui, Zhengding, Zibo, Taizhou, Liuzhou, Chaozhou, Yanji and other cities with food characteristics have seen a significant increase in accommodation bookings. Taking Zhengding as an example, in the past two weeks, the search popularity of "Zhengding Night Market" has increased by 13 times compared with the previous two weeks, and the consumer group aged 20-35 accounts for more than 60%, and "Zhengding Night Market Food" and "Zhengding Night Market Accommodation" have become high-frequency search keywords. Taizhou, Zhejiang Province is also a popular town for May Day "taste bud tour". According to Meituan data, as of April 24, the number of travel bookings for accommodation and tickets during the May Day holiday in Taizhou increased by more than 220% week-on-week.
In addition, affected by the weather, the heat of some "little sun" cities that do not rain during the "May Day" period has risen significantly recently.
Ctrip data shows that Harbin, Shenyang and Dalian in the northeast, Beijing, Tianjin, Hohhot and Zhengzhou in North China, Jinan, Qingdao and Yantai in East China, Urumqi and Yinchuan in the northwest, Kunming in the southwest, and Sanya and Haikou in South China have increased by more than 30% month-on-month in the past week. Among them, the popularity of Hohhot has risen by 470%, and the popularity of Harbin, Beijing, and Tianjin has increased by more than 30%.
On the Ctrip platform, in the past week, the number of hotel holiday orders in Sanya increased by 130% month-on-month, the order volume in Urumqi increased by 90% month-on-month, and Kunming, Tianjin, Beijing and other places increased to varying degrees.
It is worth mentioning that at present, the fares of many routes destined for "Little Sun" cities have dropped significantly compared with the same period last month, and passengers who want to "pick up" the good weather can start in time. For example, the average price of one-way tax-inclusive routes between Shanghai and Sanya in the past week decreased by 60% compared with the previous month, and the average prices of Xiamen-Beijing, Chengdu-Jinan, Shanghai-Dalian and other routes decreased by more than 30% month-on-month.
(Source: The Paper)