China sees domestic tourism boom as Covid-19 fears ease
- One travel industry analyst said there would be an ‘explosive’ increase in demand, possibly exceeding pre-pandemic levels
- While the authorities tried to discourage travel over Lunar New Year, there are no such concerns over the current five-day holiday
People in China are flocking to sites across the country in large numbers as the authorities look to boost the domestic tourism industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
One tourism analyst predicted that there would be an “explosive” rise in demand, possibly exceeding the pre-pandemic total.
01:18
Large crowds at Great Wall of China as pandemic continues to grip rest of the world
Some of Beijing’s most popular sites, such as the Forbidden City and Great Wall, were predictably busy, with tickets for the Imperial Palace Museum sold out until Thursday.
But demand for lesser-known attractions was also running high with scalpers quick to cash in on demand.
For example, tickets to visit Prince Gong’s Mansion – a 18th-century palace in the heart of the capital – sold out four days in a row and were being resold at almost four times their face value, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Tuesday.
Beijing’s pet hotels are charging US$77 a night over May Day holiday
Police have also stepped in to try to stop the practice, detaining four people on Monday.
People’s Daily reported that some sites were cashing in on a new trend by offering visitors themed ice creams shaped to resemble historic artefacts or buildings.
Meanwhile, moviegoers flocked to cinemas as a dozen new films hit the screens, bringing the nationwide box office figure to more than 1.5 billion yuan (US$232 million) as of Wednesday morning, the fifth day of the holiday, on a par with the 1.5 billion yuan taken over four days in 2019.
Chinese authorities had been expecting strong demand across this year’s five-day holiday period as domestic Covid-19 controls eased and foreign travel remained largely off limits.
China braces for May holiday surge as Covid-19 threat recedes
Last week the transport ministry estimated that travellers would make about 265 million trips around the country, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
China State Railway Group, for example, saw more than 13.7 million passengers on Monday, 3.2 per cent higher than the same period in 2019.
Tourism analysts said people were eager to visit other parts of the country this week because of the supportive attitude of the authorities and effective control of the pandemic.
“We forecast an explosive surge in tourism demand from last year and it could be even higher than 2019,” analyst Fang Zexi from travel service platform Trip.com’s research institute said.
Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, asked travellers to pay attention to personal hygiene and avoid mass gatherings.
Wu also said those who are worried about side effects from being vaccinated could get their jabs after travelling, although he stressed that adverse reactions are rare.
“The Covid-19 situation is relatively good in the country with no locally transmitted cases. But the global situation has become more severe, especially in some Asian countries,” he told a press conference last Thursday.
“It reminds us of the huge pressure for us to prevent imported cases.”
