Tourists visit Huangshan Mountain scenic area in Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, Dec. 30, 2023. The three-day 2024 New Year holiday started on Saturday in China. (Photo: Xinhua)

Travel numbers and tourism revenue were both up in multiple Chinese cities and provinces during the three-day New Year's Day break ending on Monday, returning to 2019 or pre-pandemic levels.

Data from the tourism authority of South China's Guangdong Province showed that the province received 14.48 million tourists during the holidays, surging 78.1 percent year-on-year. Tourism revenue hit 8.9 billion yuan ($1.25 billion), nearly doubling last year's figure, and was up 12.1 percent if compared to 2019.

A total of 832 A-level scenic spots in Southwest China's Sichuan Province welcomed 9.15 million of tourists during the holidays, up 80.65 percent year-on-year, with ticket sales for scenic spots hitting 83.145 million yuan, up 89.60 percent year-on-year, according to the Sichuan tourism authority. Tourist numbers and ticket sales rose by 60.1 percent over last year, or up 81.31 percent from 2019.

Zhengzhou, the capital city of Central China's Henan Province, saw an influx of 3.8million of tourists during the break, generating 1.97 billion yuan in tourism revenue, increasing by 27 percent and 53.9 percent year-on-year, respectively, local officials said.

During the three-day holidays, a total of 135 million domestic travels were made, up 155.3 percent year-on-year. Total domestic tourism revenue climbed to 79.73 billion yuan, jumping by over 200 percent from the same period in 2023, and 5.6 percent from 2019 before the pandemic, said the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Monday.

Shanghai received over 7.18 million tourists during the holidays, up 16.27 percent year-on-year. And, a total of 170 scenic spots in Beijing greeted over 4.83 million of tourists, up 80.5 percent year-on-year.

Global Times