China’s travel spending surges over Dragon Boat holiday, signals more ‘stable’ tourism market
- Three-day holiday figures bode well for coming summer holiday, with students expected to help drive domestic tourism
China reported growth in trips and travel spending over the three-day Dragon Boat Festival, beating last year’s holiday figures as well as those from pre-pandemic 2019, despite the nation’s prolonged spell of an uneven economic recovery.
People in China made 110 million trips from Saturday through Monday, up 6.3 per cent, year on year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The travellers spent 40.35 billion yuan (US$5.56 billion), up 8.1 per cent over the same holiday last year.
“Overall, the domestic culture and tourism markets are stable and orderly,” the ministry said on Monday in announcing the figures online.
Revenue growth over the long weekend augurs well for China’s coming school break, though this year’s summer vacation metrics might miss those of last year when tourism “exploded” because Covid-19 controls had been lifted just months earlier, said Steven Zhao, CEO of the China Highlights online travel agency.
But university-admission exams that took place on Friday and Saturday will be over by summer break, giving families a chance to travel, he said.
“This summer’s travel boom may be more stable than last year,” Zhao said. Nonetheless, he said, “those students make up a big group of travellers”.
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