China’s New Year Travel Boom: 135 Million Domestic Trips
During the three-day New Year’s holiday, China experienced a remarkable surge in travel, recording 135 million domestic tourist trips, marking an impressive 155% increase from the previous year. The data released on Monday also highlighted a substantial rise in domestic tourism revenue, reaching 79.73 billion yuan ($11.23 billion). The Ministry of Transport reported that over 128 million passenger trips were made on China’s transport network during the New Year holidays, showcasing a notable 78.4% increase from 2023 and a 33.1% rise from 2022.
Railway passenger trips witnessed a remarkable surge of 177.5% year-on-year, while air passenger trips jumped by an impressive 140.3%, as reported by the Global Times. Despite cold weather in various regions, people enthusiastically attended music festivals and concerts, with an uptick in family group outings. The popularity of ice and snow leisure activities also increased in East China, Central China, South China, and other regions.
Northern provinces such as Heilongjiang capitalized on wintry conditions, promoting ice and snow tourism and extending operating hours for key scenic spots, subways, and buses. In an effort to stimulate holiday demand and boost the economy, Beijing distributed vouchers, emphasizing the growing economic significance of urban ice and snow-themed projects and theme parks. The Ministry of Transport estimates that air passenger trips from Saturday to Monday are expected to reach 5.19 million, representing a substantial 140.3% year-on-year increase. Journeys on highways and waterways are also projected to rise by 46.1% and 72.9%, respectively