Summer outbound tours see an increase in bookings

Chinese outbound tourism has seen its first surge in booking activity as China's crucial college entrance examination, known as the gaokao ends and the summer vacation season approaches, China News Service reported on Monday.

According to the data from the Chinese online travel platform Qunar on June 10, there has been a noticeable increase in bookings for overseas travel during the upcoming summer months.

During the Dragon Boat Festival holiday from June 8 to 10, many Chinese citizens chose to extend their vacation by using their annual leave to travel abroad.

As of June 10, the platform has recorded over a 60 percent increase in international flight bookings departing during this year's Dragon Boat Festival compared to the previous year. And international hotel bookings for the holiday period have risen by 50 percent.

The top 10 destinations during the holiday period were Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Notably, bookings to Malaysia more than doubled, thanks to the visa-free policy and the opening of new routes.

Data from the platform show that outbound flight bookings for the summer season (July 1 to August 31) have surged by 1.6 times compared to the previous year, with ticket prices dropping by around 20 percent from the same period last year.

The top 10 popular international destinations for the summer include Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, the United States, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Canada.

North America and Europe remain popular destinations for long-haul trips, with tours spanning 10 to 13 days in high demand among Chinese travelers, said a person in charge of Qunar's holiday business.

Moreover, bookings for lesser-known destinations such as Iceland, the Caucasus region and Croatia have seen significant increases.