Two holiday periods set scene for summer travel boom

My weeklong annual leave started before this year's Dragon Boat Festival (June 8 to 10), so the longer holiday meant I could travel to Japan, like so many of my compatriots who, it appears, adopted a similar strategy.

During the holiday, booking volumes of outbound international flights rose 60 percent year-on-year, according to Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency.

The growth momentum of outbound tourism started during the Spring Festival holiday and continued through the May Day holiday. For instance, booking volumes of flights from China to Malaysia during Dragon Boat Festival more than doubled year-on-year, thanks to visa-free entry policy and some newly launched routes.