China’s tourism sector showed great signs of recovery over the May Day holiday with 115 million trips made, mostly by younger people emerging from weeks of coronavirus lockdown, according to government data and operators.
The five-day holiday period from May 1 was an important test for the country’s tourism industry, one of the sectors hardest hit by the coronavirus.
News agency Reuters said the total of 115 million trips over the holiday was down 41% from the 195 million over the same period last year. But the figure beat expectations of about 90 million trips and was a hopeful sign, travel operators and authorities said.
“We can see that everyone’s confidence is gradually recovering,” Liang Jianzhang, chairman of travel operator Trip.com, told state broadcaster CCTV.
China has tried to encourage domestic tourism in a bid to revive an economy seriously battered by the coronavirus.
The ministry said travel operators earned total revenue of 47.56 billion yuan ($6.74 billion) over the holiday. It did not give a figure for last year.
Tourists travelling by car accounted for more than 60% of the travel during the holiday, the ministry said. Trip.com said bookings for its car rentals were 10% up on the same period last year.
