China may take until mid-2023 to get to business as usual after relaxing border curbs - CNA

SURGE IN TRAVEL DEMAND

Searches for overseas hotels and flights surged in China, as soon as authorities announced it would relax COVID-19 travel restrictions.

According to data from Trip.com Group, search interest for outbound flights from mainland China rose by 83 per cent from Dec 26 to Jan 5, when compared to the previous two-week period.

The actual number of bookings increased by a more modest 59 per cent, with tickets for the upcoming Chinese New Year period going up significantly.

Top overseas destinations booked include Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada.

For lifestyle blogger Liu Wenwen, travel had been a way of life before the pandemic hit three years ago.

The 39-year-old Wuhan native used to visit more than 10 countries each year and did travel-related content full-time.

“As a travel blogger, I panicked. I thought about how long the pandemic would go on for. It was a question mark. We couldn’t travel abroad,” said Ms Liu, who refocused her content on the domestic travel and the lifestyle market while waiting for China to reopen.

With the scrapping of strict restrictions, she now looks forward to travelling for work and leisure again.

Her top priority includes visiting Toronto and meeting her Canadian husband's friends and relatives in person for the first time, since they started dating during the pandemic and got married last year.

It will also be the first time in three years since her Chinese-born husband, Mr James Zheng, has been back.

“In the past three years, I was more worried that if I leave China, it would be more difficult for me to re-enter the country,” said Mr Zheng, a business owner, who has elderly parents living in Wuhan.

The couple is likely to travel only after the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival later this month, as they wait for the COVID-19 situation in the country to stabilise.

“We want to wait another month for the trend and change in the pandemic to become clear. We may feel more at ease when we go abroad,” said Ms Liu.

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