China’s Golden Week travel surges but spending lags pre-pandemic numbers

China: The number of local journeys and total vacation expenditure during China’s week-long National Day holiday exceeded last year’s figures, but per person investing lagged pre-pandemic levels, according to the culture and tourism department.

The data, which was made public on Tuesday ( 8 October ), provides important insight into consumer demand and the state of the Chinese economy.

It showed that 765 million private visits were made across the country during next week’s Golden Week trip, a year-on-year boost of 5.9 per share.

Expenditure by domestic tourists reached 700.82 billion yuan ( US$ 99.30 billion ), a year-on-year increase of 6.3 per cent.

But, per capita saving was 2.09 per cent lower than the same time in 2019 before the COVID pandemic, according to Reuters ‘ calculations.

Despite the increase in overall visits made, the ordinary saving edged up 0.38 per share year on year, nearly flat, in line with forecasts by analysts.