Tourists enjoy food in Wuxi. [Photo/Wuxi Daily]
Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province has emerged as a top destination for May Day holiday tourists.
Statistics from travel platform Ctrip show that during the five-day holiday, the city's hotel bookings increased by 14 percent year-on-year, while inbound tourist bookings saw a 62-percent year-on-year growth.
From May 1 to 4, Nanchang Street and Yingyueli Block received 779,800 and 480,100 visitors, respectively.
Wang Lianggang, general manager of the Wuxi Yude International Travel Agency, mentioned that international tourists to Wuxi mainly came from countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia. However, this year, in addition to these countries, the number of tourists from other countries has also increased. "We received over 100 visitors from Australia and Canada alone," he said.
He also said that tourists from Southeast Asian countries prefer scenic spots such as Lingshan Mountain and the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin Theme Park, while European and American tourists are more interested in natural landscapes and garden architecture.
Although four months have passed since the CMG Spring Festival Gala, the popularity of Wuxi as a sub-venue remains strong.
The scenes that appeared in the CMG Spring Festival Gala have been faithfully recreated, while new scenes have been created and high-tech elements have been incorporated at various locations where the CCTV Spring Festival Gala was filmed. For example, Yingyueli Block includes over 60 cultural and creative booths, along with tea ceremonies and performances.
Tourists camp in the Wuxi countryside. [Photo/Wuxi Daily]
Reverse tourism focused on "escaping crowds and valuing personal experiences" is quietly gaining steam as well. Activities such as hiking on ancient paths, feeding horses and fishing on farms, and waiting for the sunset in wetland parks were popular during this year's May Day holiday.
The Yangshan Resort, known for its proximity to nature, saw a peak in visitors during the holiday. In the first two days, the number of tourists in the area reached nearly 30,000, with hotels and homestays maintaining an average occupancy rate of up to 95 percent.
