China travel, tourism ‘unlikely to improve materially’ as coronavirus curbs hit Labour Day holiday
- Trips taken during the five-day Labour Day holiday in China fell to 160 million, down by a third compared with the same period last year
- Tourist spending also dropped by 43 per cent compared with last year to 64.68 billion yuan (US$9.79 billion)
Travel and tourism spending plunged during China’s Labour Day holiday due to coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions rolled out across the country, with the “situation unlikely to improve materially in May”, analysts said.
Trips taken during the five-day holiday, which ended on Wednesday, fell to 160 million, down by a third compared with the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Tourist spending also dropped by 43 per cent compared with last year to 64.68 billion yuan (US$9.79 billion), recovering to only 44 per cent of the level seen before the coronavirus pandemic.
Tourism companies are facing tremendous hardships now, but there’s nothing you can do about the Covid measures
“Tourism companies are facing tremendous hardships now, but there’s nothing you can do about the Covid measures,” said Wang Ke, a tourism analyst with consulting firm Analysys.
“With the current intensity of the control measures, it’s unlikely we will see a sudden rise [in the number of trips] in the short term.”
The Labour Day break at the start of May is one of the so-called golden week holidays in China and is traditionally one of the busiest travel seasons.
But this year, according to an estimate by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, around a third of all traditional tourist venues were closed due to virus control measures.