Travel boom expected for upcoming Dragon Boat Festival

Travel reservations for the Dragon Boat Festival have seen a sharp increase, as the traditional Chinese festival is around the corner.

Starting from Saturday, the three-day break is projected to receive 100 million travelers, roughly recovering to the level of the same period in 2019, travel agencies projected.

As a traditional festival for prayer for blessings and warding off evil spirits, Dragon Boat Festival will see most travelers make their trips to attractions and ancient villages highlighting folk cultures.

Figures from Trip Group, an online travel agency, show their users have great passion for visiting these ancient villages over the holiday this year, with some of them preferring tailored tours to these attractions - a rise of 30 percent compared with 2019.

Spending the holiday in some high-end hotels and resorts is also popular among travelers. Lvmama, an online travel service provider, said reservations of hotels neighboring big cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou are climbing, and average prices rose 50 percent from the slack seasons.

However, prices of air tickets have fallen back from the peak during the May Day holiday. According to Qunar, also an online travel agency, the average price of air tickets is about 712 ($111) per trip, pulling even with that of the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday in April.