New experiences drive travel demand as ice-snow tourism continues to thrive
>> Chinese tourists were increasingly keen on in-depth experiences and short-haul trips in 2021, with the popularity index of short-haul destinations up by 251% year on year, according to a report released by Mafengwo and China Tourism Academy.
“Micro Vacation” featuring shorter distance and duration was most popular among the Post-90s age group, which accounted for 50.2% of the total. Nearly 60% of the travelers taking micro vacations were from top-tier cities.
Didi to remain in operation in Russia
>> China's car-hailing giant Didi Global said on Saturday that it will keep operating in Russia, reversing an earlier decision that it would leave Russia in March. Didi will not shut down its service in Russia and will continue to operate and serve drivers and passengers there, the company said in a short statement released on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo.
Chinese ride-hailing platforms ordered to reveal pricing rules
>> Regulators in China on Thursday announced a new campaign to protect the rights of gig drivers who use ride-hailing and cargo delivery apps, urging the platforms’ operators to publicize their pricing rules this year. The new rules were drafted by the Ministry of Transportation, which is now demanding ride-hailing platforms to set “reasonable” caps on fees and to display the commission charged from drivers’ income for every transaction in real-time.
10% of EU citizens in Hong Kong have left in past 18 months
>> More than 10% of European Union (EU) citizens in Hong Kong have left the city within the past 18 months because of unpredictable anti-epidemic measures, according to the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao. The figure points to an exodus of expatriates amid strict Covid-19 restrictions that have left the city largely cut off from the world.
Macao visitor numbers hit nearly 700,000 in January but lag well behind 2019
>> Total visitor arrivals to Macao rose by 24.7% year-on-year in January to 694,430, according to new figures from the Macao Government Tourism Office. Due to strict travel restrictions into Macao, almost all the arrivals (94.5%) were from mainland China. Visitor numbers from the Mainland increased by +29.4% to 642,016.
Laos-China Railway helps reviving domestic tourism of Laos
>> The Laos-China Railway which was put into operation in December of 2021 helped revive the domestic tourism of Laos. As of Feb. 22, the Lao section of the China-Laos Railway had run 146 pairs of EMU passenger trains, transporting 144,610 passengers, with a maximum of 2,804 on Jan. 3 and an average occupancy rate of 68.76 percent.
