Year of the Monkey proves prosperous as hit films and holidays boost consumption during China’s ‘Golden Week’
Holiday consumption on the mainland over the Lunar New Year period increased significantly this year, as tourism boomed and cinemas posted box-office increases.
The Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday that retailers and catering firms had reported revenues of 754 billion yuan (HK$892 billion) during the February 7 to 13 Golden Week holiday – a growth of 11.2 per cent over last year’s Golden Week.
Millions of mainlanders take time off work to travel and generally spend more than usual during the break.
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Sales in major jewellery stores in Hubei (湖北) province grew 22 per cent, with monkey-themed accessories proving popular, state-run Xinhua reported.
Sales at 27 restaurants taking part in a survey in Chongqing (重慶) increased 16.6 per cent to 8.37 million yuan during the period, with some of the restaurants cooperating with online platforms to boost sales.
Food prices increased slightly, said the ministry, with vegetable prices increasing about 2.5 per cent over the holiday.
More people were buying products made in rural villages, the People’s Daily reported. More than 80,000 cans of chilli sauce made in Guizhou (貴州) were ordered online within a five-hour period, it said.
Box office sales during the first three days of the holiday surged by about 80 per cent, reaching 1.7 billion yuan – not far off the total for the whole holiday week last year, the ministry said.
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The Mermaid, directed by Stephen Chow, took 1.46 billion yuan between February 8 and February 13.
Income generated by domestic tourism increased by 14.2 per cent from the same period last year to 13.79 billion, China National Tourism Administration said.
An estimated six million mainlanders travelled abroad, according to the China Tourism Academy.
More than half of hotel reservations by mainland tourists on overseas trips were at four- and five-star hotels, Xinhua reported.
