Chinese Valentine’s Day on August 4 this year was celebrated by many consumers staying at hotels or flying to popular destinations. Most hotel stays on the day were booked by female users, and orders for two-night or longer stays doubled compared to the same period last year, according to data released by China’s online travel platform Ctrip.
Overall hotel bookings tripled
As of August 2, overall hotel bookings tripled compared to the same period last year, especially for four-star and five-star hotels. Theme hotel and hourly room bookings doubled, and short-term rentals quadrupled.
Data showed that from July 25 to August 3, over half of the hotel rooms were booked by female users.
Bookings for family rooms and film-themed rooms were up by almost 300% year on year, while e-sport room bookings increased by 161% compared to the same period last year.
Beijing, Hangzhou and Qingdao were the top three destinations with the highest volume of hotel bookings. Other popular cities included Shanghai, Chongqing, Changsha, Dali, Guangzhou, Sanya and Xi’an.
Bookings for two-night or longer stays during the day till the following weekend went up by 157% year on year.
Sanya is among the most popular cities
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou remained the top three destinations for departing and arrival flights from August 1 to August 5. Yet the top four air routes during this year’s holiday (i.e. Shanghai-to-Sanya, Sanya-to-Shanghai, Beijing-to-Sanya, and Sanya-to-Beijing), all depart from or arrive in Sanya.
Data showed that from July 30 to August 7, romance-themed group tour packages were also gaining popularity, with the transaction volume up by nearly 400% year on year. Besides, the top five routes with the highest transaction volume all had Yunnan as the destination.
