Roses and chocolates are no longer enough for young Chinese lovebirds; a hotel stay is now a requirement to prove requited love. The number of young couples spending so-called Chinese Valentine's Day in hotels shot up this year, according to data from popular travel company Qunar.
As of Friday, 96 percent of the hotel rooms in major cities were booked for Tuesday's holiday, an increase of 34 percent year-on-year. Some hotels also offered love-themed rooms, with red decor and round beds. Reservations of these special suites jumped 130 percent compared to last year. Young people dominated reservations for the night; more than 70 percent of the Chinese Valentine's Day reservations went to guests aged 18 to 35. This group booked about 32 percent more rooms than last year, according to Qunar.
This significant increase in demand bolstered the flagging hotel industry, which has been in a slump in recent years, with occupancy rates of 60 percent or less increasingly becoming the norm for some hotels, according to domestic media.
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