China domestic tourism picks up over New Year holiday as Covid curbs end

IN CHINA, domestic tourism picked up over Chinese New Year, while cross-border trips more than doubled in the first six days of the week-long break following the end of the country’s strict Covid-19 curbs.

Data from the culture and tourism ministry on Friday (Jan 27) showed that a total of 308 million trips were made during the current holiday period, up 23.1 per cent from last year’s festive break. The figure also marked a recovery to 88.6 per cent of 2019 levels, before the pandemic.

China in December began dismantling its stringent zero-Covid measures after nearly three years of intermittent citywide lockdowns, slower economic growth and disruptions to its tourism and hospitality sector.

Revenue generated from domestic tourism during this year’s holiday season stood at 375.84 billion yuan (S$72.8 billion), or 73.1 per cent of the 2019 figure, tourism ministry data showed.

From Jan 21 to Jan 26, the first six days of the holiday, a total of 2.39 million trips were made out of and into China. This was 123.9 per cent more than the number recorded between Jan 31 and Feb 5 last year, said the National Immigration Administration on Friday, citing data on trips made by various modes of transport.

In early January, authorities ended a rule that required inbound travellers to quarantine upon arrival. It was a policy that had crippled international travel.

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Despite the jump in trips, international travel has yet to recover to pre-Covid levels.

During Chinese New Year in 2019, a total of 12.53 million cross-border trips were made, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Data from travel company Ctrip showed that both domestic and international travel orders on its platform rose to a three-year peak this holiday season, with four times as many overall tourism orders this year as last year. REUTERS