Chinese travellers spend big to mark most profitable Ching Ming Festival since 2019
- Three-day holiday ending Saturday logs more than 119 million domestic trips and close to 54 billion yuan in revenue, well over pre-pandemic levels
- Inbound and outbound tourism levels were close to those logged during the 2019 festival, ministry in Beijing says
More than 119 million domestic trips were logged during the three-day holiday ending Saturday, marking an increase of 11.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, according to the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Revenue from domestic travel totalled 53.95 billion yuan (about US$7.61 billion), up by 12.7 per cent from the pre-pandemic year, the ministry said in an article posted on its website on Saturday.
China is banking on tourism and consumption to power its post-pandemic economic recovery, as a deepening property sector crisis and weak private sector and foreign investor confidence continue to weigh on overall growth.
Last year’s holiday lasted only a day, having fallen on a Wednesday, and was the first since China began lifting its stringent “zero-Covid” restrictions a few months earlier.