China’s tourism market showed a better-than-expected performance over the just-ended eight-day Spring Festival holiday, which started on February 10. The latest figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed that traveler numbers as well as tourism-related revenue during the holiday reached record highs, thanks to people’s ever-stronger desire to travel, ample market supplies and good tourism policies. The Ministry said that the domestic tourism market saw 474 million trips during the holiday, up 34.3% year-on-year. The number marked a 19% increase compared with the same holiday period in 2019. Domestic tourism-related revenue reached CNY632.69 billion during the holiday, an increase of 47.3% year-on-year and 7.7% growth from the same holiday period in 2019.
Southern destinations with a warmer climate or tropical views, such as Kunming, Yunnan province, and Sanya, Hainan province, remained top choices for tourists, according to travel agencies. Return-flight tickets in economy class departing from Sanya were sold out early, leaving only tickets in business or first class. Travel portal Tuniu said that destinations and museums with a rich cultural atmosphere or those highlighting cultural elements of the dragon were favored by travelers marking the beginning of the Year of the Dragon. In addition, some northern destinations with snow and ice views also proved popular during the holiday. Among them, Harbin Ice-Snow World in Heilongjiang received 329,000 visits from February 10 to 14 – the first five days of the holiday – with the number of travelers up by 115% from the previous year. In addition to the prosperous domestic tourism, the inbound and outbound tourism market also delivered a surprisingly good performance during the holiday. The Culture and Tourism Ministry said that around 3.6 million overseas trips were made during the holiday, while the Chinese mainland received about 3.23 million visits from overseas travelers.
A total of 13.52 million inbound and outbound trips were made during the holiday, marking a nearly threefold increase from the holiday period last year, according to the National Immigration Administration (NIA). Travel portal Trip.com Group said that among the top 10 overseas destinations, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia were the biggest winners, with total bookings to the three destinations marking growth of over 30% at the group’s platform, thanks to their visa-free policies for Chinese travelers, the China Daily reports.
