BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government's decision to extend the May Day holiday has boosted online searches and orders for trips, according to the country's biggest online travel agency Ctrip.
Trip searches and orders surged about 50 percent on Ctrip's mobile app after the State Council announced Friday that this year's May Day holiday will be extended to four days, starting from May 1 to May 4.
The company estimated that about 150 million trips will be made during the period, with notable growth in domestic and regional trips.
Thailand, Japan and Indonesia are expected to be popular overseas travel destinations during the holiday, while Chongqing, Hangzhou and Shanghai might be hot domestic tourism cities.
About 147 million trips were made during the three-day May Day holiday last year, while about 726 million trips were made during the week-long National Day holiday, according to the China Tourism Academy.
