China faces bleak holidays over ‘Covid zero’

Bloomberg

Chinese holidaymakers face another holiday season ruined by virus outbreaks and controls, with the government’s stringent Covid Zero restrictions and fears of infection expected to keep many people at home during the upcoming Labor Day break.
Travel was already down in March, when the biggest Covid-19 outbreak in two years prompted officials to lock down major cities like Shenzhen and block or restrict road traffic to try and stop the transmission of the virus.
With millions of Shanghai residents still confined to their homes and restrictions being tightened in several other cities, including in Beijing, for many people travel is on hold for now.
Government officials estimate that passenger traffic over the five-day holiday will plunge 62% from last year, road traffic will drop by half and travel by plane could fall 77%. Ctrip said about half of travel bookings made on its online platform are for short-distance trips within provinces, according to a report.
The collapse in what is usually one of the busiest tourism seasons in China is another blow to the services industries, which have borne the brunt of more than two years of domestic lockdowns and travel restrictions to contain virus outbreaks.
Even when the number of tourists trips recovered to pre-pandemic levels last year, holidaymakers were still spending a lot less and making shorter, local trips.