(Yicai) April 29 -- The number of inbound tourism orders for the five-day Labor Day holiday on Trip.Com has climbed 173 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Chinese online travel agency.

The top Chinese destinations for foreign tourists are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu, according to Trip.Com. Their main countries of origin are South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia, Malaysia, Thailand, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

One of the main reasons for China’s inbound tourism boom is the recent social media exposure from foreign influencers. For example, overseas users’ searches for hotels in China tripled after YouTuber IShowSpeed visited the country. Another reason is China’s recent policies allowing foreign tourists to obtain instant tax refunds.

Domestic tourism is also expected to achieve new highs during the Labor Day holiday, which will run from May 1 to May 5. China’s Ministry of Transport forecast more than 270 million daily cross-regional trips during the period.

Over 80 percent of accommodation reservations for the Labor Day holiday are cross-region stays, as compared with the three-day Qingming Festival holiday earlier this month, the longer Labor Day holiday prompted residents to venture farther, Trip.Com said.

Moreover, about 20 percent of such bookings are for stays of two or more days for in-depth travel experiences.

Another characteristic of this year’s Labor Day holiday is the pronounced shift toward rural destinations. Tourism demand in fourth- and lower-tier cities soared 25 percent from a year earlier, compared with a growth of 14 percent for higher-tier cities, Trip.Com data also showed. High-star hotel consumption in rural areas also greatly exceeded that in cities.

H World Group, a major Chinese hotel chain, revealed that nearly half of its Labor Day holiday reservations are for stays of two or more days, with smaller cities with rich tourism resources but relatively remote locations, such as Diqing and Liuzhou, showing exceptional booking momentum.

Editor: Futura Costaglione