China reports 826 million trips during 8-day National Day holidays

 

(ECNS) -- China's tourism industry has shown a strong recovery momentum, recording 826 million trips and 753.43 billion yuan (about $103.2 billion) of tourism revenue during the eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, which came to a close on Saturday.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the number of domestic tourists increased by 71.3 percent year-on-year, and domestic tourism revenue increased by 129.5 percent year-on-year during the long holidays.

Data from online travel agency Qunar indicates that flight bookings to domestic popular cities increased by nearly 50 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels, with the highest-ever booking volume for flights departing on Sept. 29, the first day of the holiday. Hotel bookings for popular cities in China also doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels.

According to data from Tongcheng Travel, the platform's hotel booking volume reached the highest single-day peak of the year. The booking volumes for flights, train tickets, and scenic spots all set new highs for the same period in nearly the past 5 years.

Data from Ctrip, an online travel agency in China, shows that domestic travel orders increased nearly two-fold year-on-year. Subsidiary businesses such as flight tickets, hotels, entrance tickets, homestays, car rentals, and cruises also experienced significant growth. Among them, orders for entrance tickets and homestays both more than doubled year-on-year, while cruise orders increased by more than six times compared to the same period last year.

President of China Tourism Academy Dai Bin said that in 2023, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day are consecutively connected into an eight-day holiday. Coupled with the impact of the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou and favorable policies, the most vibrant holiday tourism market ever recorded was created.

In addition, the outbound tourism market has reached a key point of recovery. The most popular outbound destinations include China's Macao and Hong Kong special administrative regions, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, and Egypt. Furthermore, there has been rapid growth in the popularity of long-haul outbound destinations such as Europe, Africa, South America, and Australia.

Ctrip data shows that during the National Day holiday, outbound travel orders increased more than eight times compared to the previous year. As for flight bookings, the post-90s generation remains the main force among outbound travelers, accounting for nearly 30 percent; the post-00s generation has the fastest growth, with a proportion of 22 percent, comparable to that of the post-80s generation.