Crowds at tourist spots nationwide, backed by data, further highlight the steady growth in China's tourism and consumption markets, two key drivers of the country's economic expansion, underscoring the vitality of the Chinese economy, experts noted.
Chinese authorities recently introduced a series of measures to stimulate economic growth, boosting expectations for continued expansion in the world's second-largest economy. With sustained policy support, experts predict stable growth for the remainder of the year.
On Monday, the last day of the weeklong National Day holidays, cross-regional passenger trips exceeded 278.76 million, a 5.2 percent rise from the same period in 2023, according to the Ministry of Transport (MOT).
This figure also marked a 24.8 percent increase compared to the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. China's railway network handled more than 18.52 million trips, up 8.6 percent from 2023 and 26.6 percent from 2019, according to MOT data.
Earlier, the MOT estimated that cross-regional travel during the seven-day Golden Week could reach 1.94 billion trips, with daily trips forecasted to hit 277 million, up 0.7 percent from 2023 and 19.4 percent from 2019.
Although final numbers for tourism trips and spending were not available as of Monday evening, indicators from major Chinese travel platforms pointed to strong growth.
A report from Tongcheng Travel, a leading travel platform in China, showed steady growth in domestic travel and spending during the holidays, especially among residents from smaller cities.
Tongcheng's platform saw a more than 50 percent rise in car hire bookings in third-tier or smaller cities, while hotel bookings in nearly 100 counties also jumped over 50 percent year-on-year, according to the report sent to the Global Times the same day.
Overall, the National Day holidays continued the tourism boom that began earlier this year. In the first three quarters of 2024, domestic tourism trips are expected to reach 4.29 billion, up 16.8 percent year-on-year, with tourism expenditure forecasted to hit 4.32 trillion yuan, a 17.1 percent rise year-on-year, nearing 2019 peak levels.
