China sees double-digit rise in National Day holiday tourism revenue

2017-10-02
Xinhua

BEIJING — A rise of more than 10 percent year on year in tourism revenue has been reported in first two days of China’s National Day holiday by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

Some 114 million tourists spent 94 billion yuan (about $9.7 billion) on Oct 2 alone, up 9.9 percent and 10.9 percent respectively over the same day of last year, said a statement released by CNTA on Oct 2.

The previous day, tourism income of 96.5 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) was posted, up 12.2 percent year on year, by 113 million domestic tourists, up 10.5 percent year on year.

Most vacationers have chosen to indulge themselves in folk customs, food, cultural and rural tourism this year. Theme parks, museums and leisure streets have also seen an obvious growth in the number of visitors, according to the CNTA.

One of China’s two “Golden Weeks”, the National Day holiday often sees a surge in passenger flow, tourism revenue and retail sales. This year it has been extended by one more day as the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Oct 4.

Possibly because the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for families to get together, travel demand appears to be stronger this year.

China Railway Corporation said on Oct 2 that more than 15 million trips were made on Oct 1, the first day of the eight-day holiday, a record high compared to 14.4 million trips made on the same day last year.

The company expects another 12 million trips to be made on Oct 2.

A survey by China Tourism Academy and Ctrip, an online travel agency, showed that major tourist destinations are expected to receive a total of 590 million visitors during the holiday, up 12 percent from last year.

Tourism income is expected to rise by 13.5 percent to 478 billion yuan (about $74 billion) during the period, said the survey.