Lunar New Year: China tourism spending tops pre-Covid level
Official data reveals that during the Lunar New Year break, tourism spending in China surged beyond pre-Covid levels.
According to government statistics, domestic tourism expenditure reached 632.7 billion yuan (£69.7bn), marking a 47% increase compared to the same holiday period last year.
These celebrations followed years of pandemic-related lockdowns and restrictions, which were lifted in early 2023. Additionally, the data benefited from the holiday period being extended by one day.
Statistics for the beginning of the Year of the Dragon indicated that 474 million domestic trips were taken during the eight-day break, which concluded on Sunday. This figure represents a more than 34% increase from last year and a 19% rise from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Although authorities did not provide a detailed breakdown of the data, calculations based on official figures suggest that average spending per trip decreased by approximately 9.5% compared to 2019.
Analysts from US investment banking giant Goldman Sachs interpreted this trend as indicative of widespread “consumption downgrading.”
The Spring Festival, as the holiday is known in China, constitutes the world’s largest annual migration. Traditionally, hundreds of millions of individuals return to their hometowns or explore tourist destinations across the country to reunite with family members.
During the pandemic, major celebrations were canceled and travel was banned.
The jump in overall Lunar New Year spending marks some rare good news for the world’s second-largest economy, which is facing several challenges.
Among the serious issues Beijing is grappling with are a property market crisis, weak exports, and concerns about falling consumer prices, or deflation.
Meanwhile, official data released on Sunday showed that investment by foreign businesses in China last year increased by the lowest amount in three decades.
The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) fell to the lowest level since 1993, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
