Young travelers are driving the rebound in the tourism industry, with those born after the year 2000 accounting for nearly one-third of all bookings ahead of this year’s five-day Labor Day holiday, according to travel agencies.
An average of 270 million daily trips across all modes of transportation are anticipated during the holiday, according to the Ministry of Transport, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
The top picks among young travelers are concerts and music festivals, and historic sites popular on social media.
Data from travel booking platform Ctrip shows that 31 percent of its bookings for the holiday, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, have been made by those born after the year 2000, a 20 percent increase for the group compared to the same period last year.
Data from Alibaba’s fliggy travel platform shows that hotel bookings during the holiday around concert and music festival venues have doubled compared to last year.
Beijing will host two large music festivals this holiday, with the 2024 Infinite Music Festival being held in Tongzhou district and the 2024 Strawberry Music Festival being held in Fengtai district.
Other cities such as Tianjin, Qingdao and Tai’an in Shandong province, Dalian in Liaoning province, and Lianyungang in Jiangsu province will also hold music festivals during the holiday.
Tickets, priced at 580 yuan ($80) and 680 yuan, for the 2024 Infinite Music Festival in Beijing on Wednesday have sold out, with only a few 480-yuan tickets remaining, according to ticketing website Damai.
The site shows tickets for some shows during the holiday sold out as early as two weeks in advance.
Wu Jing, a student at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, wanted to attend a concert by Phoenix Legend — a popular musical duo — in Beijing on Saturday, but tickets have already sold out on official channels.
“Tickets being resold online were around 3,000 yuan for seats far from the stage, and over 8,000 yuan for the closest area,” she said.
Wu added she also couldn’t get tickets to see popular acts such as Wang Xinling in Wuhan, Sodagreen in Chengdu, or G.E.M. in Tianjin. She and her roommate finally got tickets to a show in Zaozhuang, Shandong province.
“Many of my friends will be attending concerts in different cities all over the country during the holiday, and they are sure to share their photos and feelings with me when the holiday ends,” Wu said.