China sees 89.14m tourists for Duanwu holiday

China saw 89.14 million domestic tourists and raked in 29.43 billion yuan ($4.59 billion) in tourism revenue during the three-day Duanwu holiday from Saturday to Monday, up 94.1 percent and 139.7 percent year-on-year on a comparable basis.

Those figures represented a respective recovery of 98.7 percent and 74.8 percent over the same period prior to the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Securities Daily reported on Tuesday.

As the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China is approaching, Red tourism ushered in its peak season. Data from the ministry showed ticket bookings for Red tourism sites surged 60 percent year-on-year in the holidays.

Urban leisure tours, parents-child tours and countryside travel became major choices during the holidays. In terms of travel motivation, family leisure accounted for 35.3 percent, and parent-child study accounted for 16.5 percent.

The graduation season also promoted holiday travel, as the share of travelers born after 1995 and 2000 rose sharply. Tourist markets in source cities were more active. Prices of qualified hotels and homestays in Shanghai, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing and surrounding areas grew over 50 percent compared to off-peak days.

Ctrip, an online travel booking platform, found short-distance outings, road trips and theme travel have become increasingly popular. The volume of bookings on the platform grew 83 percent year-on-year. Gate ticket bookings, car rentals and theme travel have exceeded that in 2019 over the same period, respectively rising 87 percent, 153 percent and 171 percent from a year earlier.