Red tourism flourishes during China’s Dragon Boat Festival holiday

Red tourism stood out as a popular choice during this year’s three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday ending on Monday, according to China’s largest online travel agency Trip.com Group, formerly known as Ctrip.

Red tourism, which referred to visiting historical sites with a modern revolutionary legacy, was the top choice for many domestic trips made during the holiday.

Travel ordered for such destinations grew by about 60 percent compared with the same holiday last year, said the platform.

Beijing, Nanjing, Yan’an, Jiaxing, and Zunyi were the most preferred options for red tourism trips, according to the platform.

Due to time constraints, most tourists opted for relatively short-distance trips by high-speed railways during the holiday.

A one-way trip with an average travel radius of 338 km took about two hours and 13 minutes on average during the three-day holiday.

Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, and Nanjing were the top five destinations for trips by high-speed railways during the period, said Trip.com Group.

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The travel radius of Chinese tourists had significantly shortened during the holiday, with short-distance trips for in-depth leisure vacations and cultural experiences gaining ground, said Cheng Chaogong.

Chaogong is the chief researcher with a tourism research institute affiliated with the online travel agency Tongcheng-eLong.