During the five-day May Day holiday, domestic tourism in China rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
China’s Ministry of Tourism reports that 274 million domestic journeys were made by tourists over the holiday period.
This was nearly 20% higher than in 2019 before the Covid-19 outbreak prompted nationwide lockdowns.
Official data shows travellers spent $21 billion (£16.7 billion), more than double the amount spent last year.
“This is a turning point for China’s tourism industry. The market performance has reverted to its 2019 level, according to Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, as quoted by Xinhua, the state-run news agency.
The May Day holiday, which concluded on Wednesday, is one of the most significant national holidays in China.
Indicators of the strength or weakness of the post-pandemic recovery of the world’s second-largest economy were closely monitored by analyzing travel and expenditure during the period.
Officials are searching for indications that individuals have resumed spending after the country’s restrictive Covid restrictions were lifted.
Outside of China, Chinese tourists could contribute to the recovery of the global tourism sector.
Before Covid, China was the leading source of international tourists, with over 150 million Chinese citizens traveling abroad annually.
According to state media, an average of 1.2 million Chinese citizens traveled abroad daily during the May Day holiday. That was twice the amount from the previous year.
This was a result of mainland Chinese tourists traveling to Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore.
However, according to the travel data company ForwardKeys, airline reservations by Chinese travelers traveling abroad were still roughly half of what they were before the pandemic.
“Because of limited aircraft and crew availability,” Raymond Cheng of Standard Chartered predicts that domestic travel trends will continue to outpace international travel trends.
