China’s Lunar New Year tourism bounces back, with revenue hitting 73 per cent of pre-Covid levels

Visitors take more than 308 million trips during Spring Festival, the first major holiday since country dropped strict pandemic measures
Pent-up demand leads to ‘notable recovery’ in hard-hit travel, hospitality and entertainment industries, according to Nomura

China economy

Luna Sunin Beijing

Published: 7:00pm, 28 Jan 2023

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China saw robust recovery in tourism and tourist spending during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, the first major holiday since it dropped travel restrictions and zero-Covid measures.

Trips taken during the seven-day period starting on January 21 hit 308 million, up 23 per cent compared with last year’s holiday, according to data from the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism. That was 88.6 per cent of the number recorded in 2019, before the pandemic began.

Tourism revenue nationwide rose by 30 per cent compared with last year, reaching 375.8 billion yuan (US$55.4 billion) – 73 per cent of what was seen in 2019.

“Thanks to the rapid transition to herd immunity and the release of pent-up demand, there has been a notable recovery in in-person services consumption during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday,” said a Nomura report published on Saturday.

“The in-person services sector, including tourism, hospitality and entertainment, which was hardest hit by the pandemic over the past three years, is showing the most evident pent-up demand, as many people flocked to scenic spots, watched firework shows and crowded into restaurants and hotels.”

A lantern festival in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, has attracted over 350,000 tourists during the Lunar New Year holiday, according to state media. Photo: Xinhua

Beijing welcomed more than 7 million visitors during the holiday week, up 6.2 per cent from the previous year, according to the municipal culture and tourism bureau. The capital city’s total tourism revenue topped 7.46 billion yuan during the period, growing 57.6 per cent from the previous year.

Each tourist spent an average of 1,047 yuan in Beijing, up 48.4 per cent compared with last year and 4 per cent higher than what was seen in 2019.

Shanghai, China’s financial centre, recorded more than 10 million visits during the holiday week, with tourism revenue topping 16.64 billion yuan.

Major tourist sites in Shanghai welcomed more than 4.1 million visitors, 90 per cent of the number recorded during the 2019 holiday period.

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Popular attractions opened their doors to throngs of tourists during the Lunar New Year holiday, also called Spring Festival in China. The number of reservations for theme parks such as Shanghai Disneyland and Universal Beijing Resort jumped by more than tenfold compared to weeks earlier.

In the first four days of the Spring Festival holiday, several scenic spots in the southern island province of Hainan welcomed twice as many visitors compared with a year before. Ticket revenue for tourist sites in the southwestern province of Sichuan was up by 55 per cent year on year, while tourism revenue in Hubei province grew by 45 per cent.

China expected to see surge in Lunar New Year travel

Tianjin, a port city near Beijing, recorded 2 million out-of-town visitors during the holiday week, according to the municipal tourism bureau.

Tianjin’s tourism revenue hit 3.8 billion yuan for the period, jumping 315 per cent compared to last year.

Other major tourist cities, including Xian, Harbin, Suzhou, Yangzhou and Chengdu, reported a strong recovery in tourism during the holiday, with visitors flocking to popular destinations and restaurants.

As of Friday evening, 1,565 major events and 432 large fireworks display activities were carried out safely, according to China’s Ministry of Public Security.