China set to beat pre-pandemic travel levels during ‘golden week’ holiday
Week-long National Day break is expected to see more than 1.9 billion journeys, most of them by car
The “golden week” is typically one of the country’s busiest travel periods and, according to transport vice-minister Li Yang, this year is expected to see a total of 1.94 billion journeys during the holiday, which starts on Tuesday.
The average number of daily trips is expected to reach 277 million, a slight increase of 0.7 per cent compared with last year, and almost 20 per cent more than in 2019.
“More than 80 per cent of the trips, around 1.526 billion, will be made by people driving themselves, and the remaining 20 per cent will be by commercial transport, including trains, buses, planes, and ships,” Li said.
Around 175 million passengers are expected to use the railways between Sunday and next Tuesday, according to China Railway. This Tuesday is expected to be the busiest day for train travel, with more than 21 million journeys.
Trip.com, an online travel agency based in Shanghai, said earlier this month that it expected spending on travel and tourism to reach record levels this week, thanks in part to lower hotel and air ticket prices.
This year’s “golden week” comes as China’s economy is grappling with flagging growth as consumer confidence lingers just above historic lows.
