BEIJING: The number of domestic trips and total travel expenditure during China’s week-long National Day holiday exceeded last year’s numbers, but per capita spending lagged pre-pandemic levels, according to the culture and tourism ministry.
The data, released on Tuesday (Oct 8), is an important indicator of consumer demand and the health of the Chinese economy.
It showed that 765 million domestic trips were made across the country during last week’s Golden Week holiday, a year-on-year increase of 5.9 per cent.
Expenditure by domestic tourists reached 700.82 billion yuan (US$99.30 billion), a year-on-year increase of 6.3 per cent.
However, per capita spending was 2.09 per cent lower than the same period in 2019 before the COVID pandemic, according to Reuters’ calculations.
Despite the rise in total trips made, the average spending edged up 0.38 per cent year on year, almost flat, in line with forecasts by analysts.
