Chinese travellers opted for adventures closer to home during this year’s Lunar holiday, taking journeys by road and train rather than flying abroad, with increased spending defying concerns of a slowdown in consumption.
Chinese train travel hit new records over the holiday as families flocked to Shanghai and Beijing as well as less-trodden destinations such as the Altai Mountains in northern Xinjiang, according to Fliggy, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s travel unit. Travelers sought out cultural experiences, with search volumes for heritage sites and local-immersion activities increasing 40% compared to last year, according to the online travel platform.
The spending patterns underscore the preference among Chinese tourists for domestic travel since the Covid-19 outbreak, with foreign travel yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. It’s a shift that has far-reaching implications for the travel and tourism industry around the world, since Chinese travelers were the biggest spenders in 2019.
Stubbornly weak consumption has been a concern for the government since the pandemic. Despite officials announcing a raft of stimulus measures last year, the latest services industry data unexpectedly fell to a four-month low on Wednesday.
The trend for local travel has benefited China’s domestic tourism industry, especially with this year’s extended holiday allowing many to take just two days off work to enjoy an 11-day break. Across the country, tourism revenue during the break rose 7% from a year ago to 677 billion yuan ($93.1 billion), while the number of trips made increased 6%, according to data published by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The average length of stay increased by 5% and per capita spending rose by nearly 10% compared to last year, Fliggy said.
In addition to trains, road trips proved to be another popular way to travel. Rental car services saw double-digit growth compared to last year, Fliggy said. Rideshare operator Didi Global Inc. also benefited from vacationers splashing the cash, with rides during the holiday up 17% from the same period a year ago, it said.
Still, between 2.2 million and 2.6 million Chinese were forecast to travel by air during the holiday, according to digital marketing and research firm China Trading Desk. While that’s up as much as 30% from last year’s low base, it’s still below pre-pandemic levels when overseas travel was at its peak.
But not everyone wanted to stay at home. Chinese residents made 7.7 million cross-border trips during the holiday — a 5% increase from a year ago, according to government data. While that’s higher than the pre-pandemic level of 7.2 million, it also includes trips to Hong Kong and Macau, and the holiday this year is a day longer than last year.
For those that went abroad, Asian countries such as Japan, Thailand and South Korea were the preferred destinations, data from online agencies show. Bookings to Japan doubled from last year, while long-haul trips to the US, Italy and France also grew 50% or more, according to a Ctrip report. Chinese tourists were the largest group of visitors to Thailand during the holiday, according to the country’s tourism ministry.
Meanwhile, the number of trips made by foreigners across the Chinese border surged 23% to 958,000 during the holiday from a year ago, according to the immigration authority.
