China’s domestic tourism industry on course for ‘orderly recovery’ as Ching Ming Festival boosts travel, box office revenues

The Ching Ming Festival, more widely known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, took place in China on Monday, with 102 million trips recorded over the extended three-day weekend

China’s overall transport system carried 145 million passengers over the three days, while box office revenues surpassed 800 million yuan (US$122 million), a record for the holiday

Reading Time:2 minutes

China’s overall transport system carried 145 million passengers during the three-day holiday, an increase of 142 per cent from a year earlier, with 4.3 million passengers travelling by air, according to the Ministry of Transport. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:30pm, 6 Apr 2021Updated: 9:55am, 7 Apr 2021

A three figure percentage increase in the number of trips undertaken in China during the recent three-day weekend points towards an “orderly recovery” of the domestics tourism industry, further underlining post-coronavirus recovery in the world’s second largest economy.

The Ching Ming Festival, more widely known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, took place in China on Monday, and according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 102 million trips were recorded over the extended three-day weekend.

This represented an increase of 144.6 per cent year on year, while tourism revenue rose 229 per cent year on year to 27.2 billion yuan (US$4.1 billion), although the surge in percentage terms is due in part to the low comparison base from the same period last year when the coronavirus tore through the world’s second-largest economy.

In terms of pre-coronavirus levels, the number of trips recorded reached around 94.5 per cent, while tourism revenues were at 56.7 per cent.

The domestic tourism market is on the way to orderly recovery. Currently, short-distance travels account for a large proportion, and there are lots of ticket waivers. It still needs some time to fully return to normal

Ministry of Culture and Tourism

“The domestic tourism market is on the way to orderly recovery. Currently, short-distance travel accounts for a large proportion, and there are lots of ticket waivers. It still needs some time to fully return to normal,” the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said, according to various state media outlets.

China’s overall transport system carried 145 million passengers during the three-day holiday, an increase of 142 per cent from a year earlier, with 4.3 million passengers travelling by air, according to the Ministry of Transport.