China travel industry hopes of coronavirus recovery dashed by Delta variant, curtailed summer holidays

The tourism industry accounted for 11 per cent of China’s gross domestic product in 2019 before the outbreak of the coronavirus

But in the first half of 2021, the total number of domestic trips fell by 40 per cent, while total domestic tourism spending also fell by around 40 per cent

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China’s tourism industry accounted for 11 per cent of total gross domestic product in 2019, but it has continued to struggle even though the nation as a whole has posted overall economic growth since it started its road to recovery in May last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 6:15pm, 17 Aug 2021Updated: 10:04am, 19 Aug 2021

Hopes for a full and speedy recovery for China’s domestic tourism industry in the near term are slim, as the sector remains at the mercy of the coronavirus, with the current outbreak sapping business confidence and the risks of future cases ever present, industry insiders and analysts said.

Travel restrictions have been tightened, loosened and then tightened again in response to the recent surge in cases, driven by the Delta variant, and have had a significant impact on the industry.

With the highly transmissible strain having spread to more than half of the nation’s provinces, China is now combating its most serious outbreaks since it brought the initial surge under control last spring, and people are now deterred from travelling even short distances, quashing hopes for a tourism rebound even when the outbreak is brought under control.

“We are not scared of the outbreaks, we are just afraid that the pandemic will last too long, and the restrictive measures will keep coming back,” said Yu Hui, a hostel manager in Wuyuan, a tourist town in Jiangxi province in central China.

The pandemic is also having a prolonged impact on consumer behaviour, according to Wang Dan, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank (China).