BEIJING: Chinese people indulged in their desire to travel over the just completed Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, turning the three-day short break into a boost for the recovery of the domestic tourism market. The latest figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday show that the tourism industry is in a strong and stable recovery.
During the three-day holiday — from Saturday to Monday — Chinese travelers made about 102 million trips to domestic destinations, a year-on-year rise of 144.6 percent, about 94.5 percent of the level in 2019, before the novel coronavirus epidemic outbreak last year. Revenue generated over the break reached about 27.2 billion yuan ($4.1 billion), up 228.9 percent year-on-year, about 56.7 percent of the revenue created in the same period in 2019 before the epidemic, according to the ministry.
Travel agencies said several of their business sections have even outperformed that in 2019 when the market was not shocked by the novel coronavirus epidemic.
Beijing, for example, has become the most popular attraction while also the place most travelers are departing from as many of the city dwellers “stayed put” during the Spring Festival holiday.
Figures from Qunar, an online travel agency, said flight tickets bought on its platform departing from Beijing rose by 60 percent over the holiday from that in the same period of 2019, marking the greatest growth nationwide. Lan Xiang, Qunar’s data research director, said people’s suppressed desire to travel due to the control measures against novel coronavirus have been released over the break, and the holiday may become a preview for a travel boom during the upcoming May Day holiday and summer holiday.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
