BEIJING: China’s Golden Week holiday opened with record-breaking travel, with analysts saying surging long-distance trips are set to unlock strong consumption momentum across sectors from tourism to retail.
On Wednesday, the first day of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the nation’s railways carried 23 million passengers, setting a new single-day record, according to data from their operator China State Railway Group Co.
Rail travel remains the dominant mode of transport during this year’s Golden Week, with passenger traffic peaking on October 1. The operator also plans to add 2,106 passenger trains during the holiday.
As of 8 am on Thursday, China’s 12306 railway booking platform had sold 120 million tickets for the September 29-October 10 holiday period, the platform said in a statement to the Global Times.
On the same day, the national railway network is expected to handle 19.3 million passengers, with 1,409 additional trains scheduled. Cross-regional passenger traffic across China is expected to exceed 336 million trips, up 1.7 percent from a year earlier, CMG reported on Thursday.
Major transport hubs were packed on the first day of the Golden Week, with authorities deploying extra staff and tightening management to ensure smooth travel for passengers. Air travel reached 2.48 million passenger trips, up 3.4 percent, with 19,682 flights scheduled and an on-time rate of 96 percent.
Over the entire National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, passenger traffic by air is expected to reach 19.2 million trips, a record high for the period, CMG reported.
Beijing Capital International Airport is forecast to handle 1.67 million travelers, while Sanya Phoenix International Airport in Sanya, South China’s Hainan Province is expected to serve 504,000, the report said. Major hub airports are working closely with airlines to optimize route networks and capacity allocation.
Such long-distance journeys not only stimulate demand in sectors such as lodging, dining and specialty goods, but also amplify regional exposure, foster the discovery of potential business and investment opportunities, and incentivize local governments to refine policies and services that enhance the overall business climate, Bian Yongzu, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine, told the Global Times on Thursday, noting that this year’s Golden Week holiday offers one day longer than last year, giving travelers more time for long-distance trips.
Bian stressed that long-distance travel creates far richer consumption scenarios compared with short trips, producing a more pronounced impact on regional economies. Visitors’ spending on hotels, restaurants and shopping is far greater than that of local residents, making holiday travel a powerful engine for consumption growth.
In addition, cultural and tourism authorities in several cities released figures showcasing the first day of the Golden Week holiday. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
