Life & Leisure

China’s Labor Day tourist trips surpass pre-pandemic levels

Beijing, May 5 (EFE).- Chinese tourists made 230 million domestic trips during the annual Labor Day holiday weekend, which culminated on Wednesday, according to government data cited by the local press.

The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism said the figures surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to the Global Times.

In 2020, around 115 million Chinese tourists traveled domestically over the long weekend, which, like this year, spanned five days.

This year the period of domestic tourism drummed up some 113.2 billion yuan ($17.5 billion) compared to 47.6 billion yuan in 2020, the state newspaper added.

The figures reflect a recovery in China’s tourist industry, which was severely dampened by the coronavirus health crisis that was first detected in the Asian giant last year.

Due to restrictions on travel outside the country, most tourists made short-stay visits close to home.

China’s borders have been closed to tourists since the end of March 2020, although the sector is largely propped up by domestic travelers.

Chinese tourism witnessed another boom during the so-called Golden Week vacation period to mark National Day in October when the number of tourist trips increased almost 70% compared to the previous year.

During Chinese New Year in February, another occasion traditionally marked by trips to visit family and friends, the number of journeys made dropped 58% compared to 2020 due to several new Covid-19 outbreaks.

China has not registered a domestic case of Covid-19 since 21 April. EFE

jco/jot

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