Tourists watch lion dance at the Hong'an ancient town in Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County, southwest China's Chongqing, April 30, 2023. China is witnessing a travel boom during this year's five-day May Day holiday. (Photo by Hu Cheng/Xinhua)

Tourist arrivals and revenue rose in a number of Chinese provinces during the May Day holiday travel rush compared with the same period of 2019, which signals accelerating economic recovery in the coming months.

Among the top travel destinations, Central China's Henan Province received 55.18 million visitors in the five-day holidays, an increase of 21.3 percent from 2019, with tourism revenue hitting 31 billion yuan ($4.48 billion), up 7.69 percent from 2019.

Guangdong Province received more than 45.461 million visitors, an increase of 18.6 percent over the same period of 2019, and tourism revenue reached 27.44 billion yuan, an increase of 17.7 percent.

Sichuan Province welcomed 40.18 million visitors, rising 27.3 percent from 2019 and tourism income was up 22.2 percent from 2019.

Nationwide, a total of 274 million trips were made during the May Day holidays this year, up 70.83 percent year-on-year and equivalent to 119.09 percent of 2019, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday. 

Domestic tourism income soared 128.9 percent year-on-year to reach 148.1 billion yuan, slightly higher than the levels of 2019.

The travel rush led to a recovery in catering, retail business and revenues in the scenic spots.

The 340 retail and catering companies in Henan Province achieved total sales of nearly 2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.9 percent, and average daily sale reached 113.5 percent of 2019 levels. 

The 829 Class-A scenic spots in Sichuan Province received 24.38 million tourists and realized ticket revenues of 286 million yuan, an increase of 28.9 percent from 2022 and 23.1 percent from 2019.

During the holidays, sales of consumption-related industries across the country increased by 24.4 percent year-on-year, according to data from the State Administration of Taxation.

Among them, services consumption surged by 28.7 percent and commodity consumption was up19.5 percent year-on-year, reflecting residents' growing willingness to consume.

Chinese tourists went further and spent more during this year's May Day holidays, Chinese online tourism platform Trip.com told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Longer journeys drive the recovery of the entire industry chains of food, accommodation, travel, shopping and entertainment, like a locomotive that help ignite the overall economy, and many industries will benefit," Peng Han, a research fellow at Trip.com, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Retail spending through WeChat surged by 212 percent during the holidays compared with 2019, according to a report sent by Tencent to the Global Times on Thursday. Consumption in transportation was up by 198 percent and that in catering increased by 187 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

Li Changan, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times that the surge of spending in many places reflected the strong resilience of domestic consumption market and the vitality of domestic demand. 

It is expected that the proportion of consumption in GDP in the second quarter will rise further, which will mean more jobs to be created, especially in the tertiary sector, Li said.

"The Dragon Boat Festival, National Day and other holidays will play a very important role in supporting the recovery of overall consumption and the economic rebound," Li noted.

Xu Xiaolei, marketing manager at China's CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times that the industry will see acceleration in activity during the National Day holidays in October, which means a longer break, and a recovery in outbound tourism.

"The May Day holidays are a touchstone for consumer confidence and the recovery of the industry chain, which exceeded expectations. Next, as we continue to optimize outbound markets, we have reason to look forward to the National Day holidays with more optimistism," Xu said.