China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has indicated in a statement that domestic tourism in China saw a robust rebound over the just-ended Golden Week holiday.
According to the statement, domestic tourism revenues stood at 466.56 billion yuan ($68.7 billion) as tourism sites were visited by 637 million domestic tourists over the eight-day National Day holiday that started on October 1.
This marked a significant improvement from China’s last long holiday period over May 1-5 for Labour Day, when 115 million domestic tourists travelled and tourism revenues were only 47.56 billion yuan.
Since then, COVID-19 cases have declined considerably, with no new community transmissions in mainland China since early August. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a result attributed the rebound to the country’s success in stamping out the novel coronavirus.
The October Golden Week figures were however down from nearly 650 billion yuan accrued in 2019, even though the holiday period was extended this year by a day as it coincided with China’s mid-autumn festival.
The figures also defied some expectations that domestic tourism would be much stronger with cross-border travel restrictions and a scarcity of international flights discouraging millions of Chinese nationals from overseas trips.
Betty Wang, senior China economist at ANZ has warned that “it is too early to be complacent as “the quick rebound may have alleviated concerns about China’s growth momentum.”
“Tourism revenue during the holiday period only rebounded to 69.9% of last year,” Wang added, noting core inflation trended lower year-on-year to 0.5% growth in July and August, the lowest level since 2010.
Zhang does not expect consumer spending to perform strongly in the near term, noting that middle and low-income households have been hit by the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Household income fell 1.3% on the year as of end-June versus a 5.8% increase at end-December, according to official data.
“It will still take a long time for income growth to return to normal,” Zhang said.
Data from the commerce ministry showed average daily sales at key retail and catering enterprises rose 4.9% over the October holiday period from a year earlier, with sales totalling 1.6 trillion yuan ($238 billion).
It also noted strong car sales growth in some areas around the country, with sales in Beijing 23.5% higher. Car sales in China, the world’s largest automotive market, also rose for the first time in almost two years in April this year.
According to state media, car trips featured prominently in the holidays this year, contributing to highway congestion and also indicating continued caution over coronavirus transmissions and outbreaks.
The Chinese National Day is celebrated on October 1st every year to commemorate the founding of People’s Republic of China. On that day, lots of large-scaled activities are held nationwide. The 7-day holiday from October 1st to 7th is called ‘Golden Week’, during which a large number of Chinese people go traveling around the country.
The weeklong holiday enables both short-distance and long-distance trips, resulting in a boom of tourist revenue, as well as an overwhelming tourist crowd
