Kayak CEO Steve Hafner Predicts China to Fully Reopen After Travel Search Surge

Travel website KAYAK, owned by Booking Holdings Inc, said domestic searches for hotels within China surged last week, after the country loosened its COVID-19-related restrictions.

KAYAK on Friday said searches for hotels jumped more than 100% over the past two days compared to last year and over 50% compared to 2019, in a market where travel companies have struggled with Beijing’s zero-COVID policy.

“I anticipate the world’s second biggest travel market will fully reopen soon after almost three years,” said KAYAK Chief Executive Steve Hafner in a statement.

The world’s second-largest economy has announced sweeping changes to its resolute anti-COVID regime since the pandemic began three years ago, loosening rules over the last few days that had helped curbed the spread of the virus.

Searches on other travel platforms such as Trip.com also surged last week as the public cheered China’s easing travel curbs.

(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

This article was from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive Content Marketplace. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].