Domestic travel volume is up above pre-COVID levels, finally!
Chinese travel boomed with the lunar new year this year, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced. NikkeiAsia reported that according to ministry figures released on February 18, domestic travel in China climbed 34.3 percent, year-on-year. Foreign travel volumes have not yet been released.
The government has released figures for travel over the first eight days, beginning with the lunar new year, of the 40-day Chunyun period. While the number of domestic travellers, 472 million, sets records for volume, the spend per traveller remained steady. This number is in contrast to the government’s prediction that travel would be down 14 percent from 2023, at 1.8 billion trips.
Overseas travel also picked up, with bookings jumped by 14 times. Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand were favorite foreign destinations.
