A family on a spring vacation in the port city of Tianjin, northern China – Photo: XINHUA
This year’s Lunar New Year is the first major holiday since China lifted travel restrictions and eased COVID-19 control measures.
According to data from China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, there were 308 million trips in the seven days from January 21, up 23% from last year’s holiday. This is equal to 88.6% of 2019, the year the pandemic began.
National tourism revenue increased by 30% compared to 2022, reaching 375.8 billion yuan ($55.4 billion), equal to 73% compared to 2019.
“The direct services sector, which includes tourism, hospitality and entertainment, has been hardest hit by the pandemic in the past three years. Demand in this sector has been the most pent-up so many people have poured in. rush to the scenic spots, go to the fireworks show and rush in and out of restaurants and hotels during the holiday,” the newspaper said. SCMP quoted a report from Nomura Corporation (Japan) published on January 28.
Beijing welcomed more than 7 million visitors during the holiday week, up 6.2% from last year. The total tourism revenue of the Chinese capital reached 7.46 billion yuan, up 57.6% year-on-year.
Each visitor spends an average of 1,047 yuan (nearly $155) in Beijing, up 48.4% from 2022 and 4% higher than 2019.
Shanghai Financial Center welcomed more than 4.1 million visitors, equal to 90% of the number of visitors during the 2019 holiday season.
Famous attractions are crowded with tourists. Reservations for theme parks such as Shanghai Disneyland or Universal Beijing Resort have increased more than 10 times compared with the weeks before Tet.
During the first four days of the holiday, several scenic spots in Hainan welcomed twice as many visitors as last year. Ticket sales to tourist attractions in Sichuan province increased 55% year-on-year, while revenue in Hubei province also increased 45%.
Other major tourist cities such as Tianjin, Xi’an, Harbin, Suzhou, Yangzhou or Chengdu all recorded a recovery in visitor numbers and revenue.
As of the evening of January 27, 1,565 major events and 432 fireworks events had taken place safely across China.