Photo: Li Hao/GT

The first half of the Spring Festival holidays has seen a clear boom in tourism compared to previous years, with many popular scenic spots reaching their maximum capacity.

The thriving tourism market has elevated the festive atmosphere to new heights, and ushered in the return journeys on Wednesday – the fifth day of the holiday – amid the hustle and bustle. 

This surge in travel enthusiasm not only signifies the recovery of the domestic tourism industry but also serves as compelling evidence of China's economic resilience and vitality, analysts said.

Data released by various cultural and tourism departments nationwide indicate a remarkable increase in tourist numbers during this year's Spring Festival, which boasts the longest holiday period in history.

Numerous scenic spots have witnessed a significant increase in visitors, with popular tourist attractions selling out tickets and reaching maximum capacity. Some popular attractions have closed their reservation channels. The scenes of bustling crowds and congestion at many destinations, with tourists jostling to get a glimpse or take a photo, continue to dominate social media feeds. 

Data from travel platform Fliggy shows that as of the third day of the Spring Festival holidays, the booking volume of travel products, including domestic and international hotels, train tickets, plane tickets, tour packages, and scenic tickets, has reached unprecedented levels. 

Among them, the number of domestic medium- and long-distance tour package orders during the Spring Festival period has increased by over 150 percent compared with 2019, the number of room reservations in domestic high-star hotels increased by nearly 150 percent compared with 2019, and the booking volume of customized travel products has increased by nearly 800 percent compared with 2019. 

Cultural and artistic tours, ice and snow tours, rural tours, temple-themed tours, and ancient town tours have emerged as popular travel trends. Rural tourism activities such as hiking, fishing, and fruit picking have also attracted a large number of tourists for spring outings, according to Fliggy.

The surge in tourism has also spurred a boom in homestays. Data from Tujia Homestays shows that as of February 12, the number of homestay bookings during the Spring Festival increased by 1.4 times compared to 2023. Among the top five popular cities are Southwest China’s Dali, Chongqing, the capital Beijing, Northeast China’s Harbin, and North China’s Xi'an. 

A viral post shared by a netizen on social media platforms showed a serious congestion on the high way from Kunming to popular destination Dali, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, where visitors are seen take two and a half hours to drive 25 kilometers.

Outbound trips

Furthermore, outbound trips have experienced significant development alongside the domestic boom. During the Spring Festival holidays, visa-free policies for Chinese tourists to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Maldives – popular destinations among Chinese tourists – have been implemented, enhancing outbound travel convenience.
 
In addition, Macao and Hong Kong special administrative regions have remained popular Chinese New Year outbound destinations for residents from the mainland.

Data from travel platform Tongcheng showed that from February 10 to 13, hotel bookings for Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Macao have increased by more than 300 percent year-on-year, with Singapore hotel bookings soaring more than 800 percent on a yearly basis.

According to data released by the Macao Special Administrative Region, during the first three days of the Spring Festival holidays, the region received 167,441 daily average passenger trips, a significant increase of 226 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

From Saturday to Monday, Macao recorded a total of 502,324 visitor arrivals, of which 364,742 were from the mainland. The region saw 217,541 visitor arrivals on Monday alone, which not only surpassed the highest single-day arrival record since 2023, but also became the second highest single-day record since the statistics were first compiled.

On Tuesday, Thailand released a report on the country’s tourism for the period February 5-11, showing that the number of international tourists entering Thailand in this period amounted to 872,235, an increase of 102,227 from the previous week. The largest number of tourists came from China with 194,275, a 38 percent increase from the previous week and higher than the previously expected 177,000 tourists.

“Holiday consumption during the Spring Festival will play a big role in boosting China's GDP in the first quarter, as it will directly boost the growth of related industries such as retail, catering and tourism. The growth of these industries will further drive the development of other industries, forming a virtuous cycle of the industry chain,” Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Wang noted that the consumption boom will have a positive impact on economic growth, helping enhance market confidence and stabilize economic development. This pulling effect will, to a certain extent, offset the negative impact that other factors may have on the economy, laying a solid foundation for stable economic growth throughout the year.

The enthusiasm of Chinese people for outbound travel will bring business opportunities to the foreign tourism industry and promote the recovery and development of the international tourism market, in addition to injecting vitality into the local economy, Wang said.

Orderly and safe return

As the holidays enter the second half, traffic authorities nationwide are prepared for the return traffic and passenger flow. Notably, with the cold air coming, some areas will face rain and snow, bringing greater challenges to traffic pressure.

According to a report recently released by China’s Ministry of Transport, the overall journey during the first half of Spring Festival travel rush has been smooth and orderly, with the volume of inter-regional travelling reaching a new high for the same period in history.

Traffic management departments in many places have put in place measures to ensure safe travel, including strengthened predictions, increased police deployment, enhanced traffic monitoring, crackdowns on illegal activities such as drink driving, and collaboration with meteorological and emergency departments to provide a safer traffic environment. Many train stations have augmented security checkpoints and scanners to expedite passenger entry, with waiting rooms operating 24 hours to accommodate travelers.