Tourists watch birds at the Laohutan scenic spot in Dalian, Liaoning province, northeast China, April 16, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
Experts say the tourism sector, which performed well in the first three months, will continue to grow in the first half of the year.
After three quarters of growth, the tourism economy almost recovered to the level of early 2019 (before the coronavirus outbreak) in the first quarter of this year, according to a recent report by the China Tourism Academy. Tourism industry executives expressed growing confidence and people felt a strong desire to travel in the first quarter.
Domestic tourism and related spending rose 20% in the first quarter, with inbound and outbound visitors averaging about 20 million a month, the report said.
“The tourism economy showed a good start and stable operation in the first quarter, and the market has entered a new development period,” Ma Yiliang, the academy’s chief statistician, said at a recent meeting in Beijing. Ta.
He said the tourism market is benefiting from favorable visa and payment policies and an increase in international flights.
“We’ve noticed that increased travel is leading to increased consumption,” he said. “Also, some smaller cities and lesser-known destinations, such as Harbin in northeastern Heilongjiang province and Tianshui in northwestern China’s Gansu province, are popular among young people due to their low transportation costs and good services. It is gaining popularity and will grow as a trending destination and boost the tourism industry.”
According to the city’s Culture and Tourism Bureau, Nanjing, the capital of eastern Jiangsu province, received 65 million tourists in the same quarter, with the number of tourists on holidays such as the Spring Festival being 3.5 times the usual number. More than 200 million people visited Nanjing last year.
“We expect the tourism economy to continue and steadily recover in the first half of this year,” Ma said. “Domestic tourism travel and tourism-related revenues will be close to the same period in 2019, with continued growth in inbound and outbound tourists.”
In February, the academy estimated that the number of domestic tourists will exceed 6 billion this year and tourism-related revenue will exceed 6 trillion yuan ($830 billion). The number of inbound and outbound tourists is expected to exceed 260 million, and international tourism revenue is expected to reach $100 billion.
