Global Courant 2023-04-30 14:08:35
BEIJING – China’s tourism and consumer activity surged on the first day of the five-day Labor Day holiday as residents rushed to travel and spend after three years of Covid-19 restrictions finally ended .
Some 19.7 million train journeys were made across the country on Saturday, the highest ever in a single day, local media reported The Paper, citing data from China Railway Group.
The rail company expects traffic to rise to a record 120 million passengers during the extended holiday period, up 20 percent from the same period in 2019, before the pandemic hit.
Shoppers were also high on Saturday, with major retail and catering companies seeing sales up 21 percent year-on-year, according to Department of Commerce data cited by state broadcaster CCTV.
The major food chains saw their sales increase by 37 percent, sales of clothing increased by 21 percent and sales of jewellery, cigarettes and alcohol increased by 17 percent.
Many residents are making their first trips since the pandemic after authorities removed Covid-19 curbs in December, sparking a rapid recovery in consumption and domestic tourism.
But the strength and sustainability of the recovery remain questionable amid weak household income growth and record youth unemployment.
Many young tourists are opting for low-cost, value-for-money experiences, with some unexpected destinations becoming the new hot spots.
In Beijing, where some of the strictest travel restrictions were imposed during the pandemic, more than 1.4 million trips were made to and from the city’s train stations on Saturday.
That was an increase of 1,485 percent from 2022 and 27 percent from 2019, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.
Flights coming to and from Beijing also saw passenger numbers increase by 1,594 percent from 2022 and by 14 percent from 2019. BLOOMBERG
