Chinese tourists are back, but numbers still far from pre-COVID levels

FILE PHOTO: People walk at a tourism site in Qianmen street, Beijing, China March 14, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

Bookings in China for trips abroad during the upcoming May Day holiday point to a continued recovery in travel to Asian countries, but the numbers remain far off pre-COVID levels with long-haul airfares soaring and not enough flights available.

Overseas tour bookings for the upcoming holiday, for which many in China are off from April 29 until May 3, are up 157% from the beginning of April, according to Ctrip, the country's largest online travel firm.