May holiday is one of the public holidays, where many Chinese usually take the chance to travel abroad or within China. Today, the Chinese population just return to work from May holiday. This holiday has been special because it is the first holiday after China gradually have started to release the permission of outing again due to Covid-19.
According to the released data from Ministry of Culture and Tourism of PRC, during the 1st -5th of May 2020, total Chinese travelers reach 115 million with CNY 47.5 billion turnover for travel industry. The figures are 47% lower in travelers and 63% lower in turnover compared to same period last year. A key reason why the turnover dropped more than the amount of travelers, were due to the fact that a change in travel format were seen, many travelers decided to take trips which distance wise were closer by and instead traveling in groups to they made use of self-driving options. The reduction of travelers was expected however these figures gives confidence that the inbound travel market has gradually started to recover.
In China special measurements were set in place to minimize the spreading risk of Covid-19 for the large number of travelers during May Holiday. Each region and popular sightseeing place had taken various actions to split travelers into smaller groups. Key sightseen places like Forbidden city required pre-booking of tickets and made entry tickets limitations. Furthermore, Alipay verifications has been used in key cities to ensure that travelers have not been to high risk areas and temperature measurements have been taken everywhere around the country.
