A total of 826 million domestic trips were made across China during this year's Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, up 71.3 percent year on year, according to an estimate made by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Friday.
The National Day holiday, dubbed "golden week" by the Chinese, normally runs for seven days, but this year, it was linked with the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival and extended to eight days, lasting from September 29 to October 6.
A longer holiday rekindles people's enthusiasm to travel and enables them to engage in various leisure activities.
Tourists watch a fireworks show in Kaili City of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou Province, October 1, 2023. /Xinhua
Soaring tourism fervor
China's tourism and consumption have been firing on all cylinders during the holiday. From top domestic destinations such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, to cities in the northwest like Urumqi in Xinjiang, resorts across the country were flooded by visitors during the holiday.
In southwest China's Sichuan Province, over 29 million trips were made in the first six days of the holiday, skyrocketing 202 percent compared with the same period last year, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Tourists visit Xiangdong Street of Xinhua County, central China's Hunan Province, October 2, 2023. /Xinhua
Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, is hosting the 19th Asian Games and thus drawing many tourists aiming for both its picturesque West Lake and sports games. As of Wednesday, the ticket revenue of the Games has exceeded 600 million yuan, according to Xinhua.
The booming tourism has driven the high demand for flights and train tickets, hotel rooms, catering and retail sales. The latest data shows that more than 52 million trips were made by rail, highway, water and civil aviation every day during the holiday, posting a year-on-year increase of over 50 percent.
New engine of the holiday economy
The travel fervor over the "golden week" exemplifies China's great economic resilience, with all corners of the country harnessing strength to inject vitality into holiday consumption.
According to data from online platforms Meituan and Dianping, as of September 20, tourism consumption orders on the platforms for the National Day "golden week" holiday doubled compared with 2019, and the number of restaurant reservations grew by 112 percent.
"Since the beginning of this year, the consumption pattern of domestic residents has gradually transformed from focusing on commodity consumption to commodity and service consumption, and service retail has become a new engine of the holiday economy," said Li Jiwei, deputy dean of Meituan Research Institute.
Tourists visit Zhanqiao scenic area in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, October. 3, 2023. /Xinhua
Trips coinciding with music festivals, art exhibitions and film are most popular this year. During the eight-day holiday, nearly 100 concerts and performances took place in Beijing, Shanghai, Foshan and other major cities, fueling the local tourism boom.
Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been supporting the development of "one-stop" integrated cultural, commercial and tourism complexes that combine "watching performances, savoring cuisine, shopping and enjoying scenic beauty," People's Daily reported.
In September, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice on measures to "release the consumption potential of tourism and promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry," encouraging high quality tourism and promoting the healthy development of formats such as drama festivals, concerts, art exhibitions and cultural tourism exhibitions.
In addition, as sports economics advanced China's sustainable development in recent years, sports became a driver of National Day tourism. In order to meet the needs of the masses, many interesting places launched the concept of "sports plus tourism" to attract traffic.
Vanke Songhua Lake Resort in Jilin City, Jilin Province, has set up more than 20 kinds of sports activities such as Frisbee, hiking and trekking, tennis tournaments and swimming fun races. "Diversified sports activities have made the scenic area's tourism hot," Huang Zhongrui, head of the resort's marketing department, said.
