Tourists flock to the Maijishan Caves on Friday in Tianshui, Gansu Province. During the three-day Qingming Festival celebration, Tianshui received about 946,500 tourist visits, generating revenue of 540 million yuan ($74.65 million). Zhang Jimin/Xinhua
The just-concluded Qingming Festival holiday proved to be a boon for the country’s tourism industry, with both travel numbers and tourism revenue soaring as people made the most of the short break.
Figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Saturday showed that domestic destinations witnessed about 119 million visits during the three-day holiday that began on Thursday, Tomb Cleaning Day, up 11.5 percent from 2019 There was only one holiday for the occasion last year and it generated 23.77 million domestic visits.
The holiday travel boom generated revenue of about 54 billion yuan ($7.47 billion), up 12.7 percent from 2019, the ministry said.
Reports and figures from travel agencies and local government offices also paint a positive picture. Travel portal Trip.com Group said that during the holiday, bookings for short-haul tours to destinations in cities where customers live rose 211 percent year-on-year, and bookings for neighboring destinations located outside cities where live, have increased by 350 percent year-over-year.
The top attractions among users of the travel portal were the places known for blooming flowers at this time of the year. Ticket bookings for similar attractions have increased by 391 percent year-on-year.
Luoyang, a city famous for its peony flowers in central China’s Henan Province, Ningchi in Xizang Autonomous Region with its mountains covered in peach blossoms and Nanjing with its plum blossoms in eastern Jiangsu Province were among the popular destinations for nature lovers during the the holiday.
“People have shown a strong desire to travel during this holiday, and the tourism market is steadily recovering,” said Qi Chunguang, vice president of online travel agency Tuniu.
He said the platform has seen hotel bookings grow by 68 percent year-on-year, and the number of self-driving travelers using Tuniu’s services has increased by 61 percent year-on-year. “The results meet our expectations,” he added.
In addition to traditionally popular destinations such as Beijing and Shanghai, lesser-known places have also seen a huge influx of tourists as local food and unique folkloric activities have gained viral online fame.
Quanzhou, a city in the southeastern Fujian province, welcomes a huge number of travelers attracted by its traditional “flowers hanging on the head”. Qunar, an online travel agency, said hotel bookings for Quanzhou rose 3.3 times during the holiday.
“I was stunned by the online short videos of girls wearing well-arranged flowers on their heads. I told my friend I should try this and take pictures,” said Yan Nan, 27, from Beijing, who traveled to Quanzhou on Wednesday, the day before the holiday began, and returned on Saturday.
Yang said she went to Xiongpu Village, believed to be the birthplace of the “needle head flower”, on Thursday afternoon and it was overcrowded. “I booked the service online, which cost 40 yuan. Aunty was very kind and patient and made the flower arrangement in about half an hour. It was a good experience and I will visit the place again in the near future, but I avoid peak travel periods,” she said.
Xiao Peng, a researcher at Qunar, said that young people, who are the main drivers of tourism consumption, prefer diverse or unique travel experiences. “An ancient street or delicious cuisine can attract a large number of travelers to a place,” he said.
The inbound and outbound tourism market also performed well over the holidays. According to the National Immigration Administration, the Chinese mainland recorded about 5.19 million entries and exits, up 69.6 percent year-on-year.
Qi Chunguang, vice president of Tuniu, said: “Thailand, Japan, Maldives, Egypt and New Zealand were popular among our customers. Some specially designed tourism products to Southeast Asian destinations including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand were also popular, especially among young people aged 25 to 35, as the three countries are visa-free for Chinese nationals.
