Journeys through the New Year

Nationwide, inter-bank transactions via UnionPay cards reached nearly 360 billion yuan on New Year's Day, which was roughly the same as in 2020, according to data released by China UnionPay.

Business-service providers launched various New Year promotions, like in previous years. Catering, shopping and accommodation remained the major sectors of tourism consumption.

The Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and Heilongjiang and Shanxi provinces each enjoyed more than 15 percent growth in catering consumption on the first day, the highest year-on-year increase nationwide, the UnionPay data show.

Jiangsu, Guizhou and Shandong provinces topped the shopping-consumption list. Transport spending in Shaanxi province, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Shanghai respectively increased by over 50 percent on Jan 1 year-on-year.

Accommodation consumption rose by over 10 percent in Qinghai, Shandong and Zhejiang provinces.

Tour-product bookings via Beijing-based online travel agency Qunar were about 70 percent of the same period of last year, the agency reports.

Due to the tightening of epidemic measures, regional consumption growth was prominent, which is in line with epidemic prevention and control to avoid crowds, experts explain.

People born in the '90s were a major force in the holiday-tourism market, says a New Year travel report by the country's biggest online travel agency, Trip.com Group.

Staycations were also popular among young travelers.

They preferred to book a nice hotel, watch TV and play on their phones, the travel agency says.

Hotels were in short supply in many parts of the country, with prices of places rated three stars or above generally increasing by 17 percent year-on-year during the holiday.

Most travelers opted for either southern destinations to avoid the cold or northern getaways to appreciate ice and snow and enjoy winter sports, the Trip.com Group report says.

Mild temperatures, sunshine and blue skies have enabled Sanya to bring in travelers from all across the country and stand out among its southern counterparts.

Tourism hotels in Sanya recorded a 77 percent occupancy rate on Jan 1, and attractions received 100,000 visits.

The city's duty-free shops received 14,000 visits on Dec 31 and raked in 16 million yuan in sales of duty-free goods, up by nearly a quarter year-on-year.

Seven duty-free shops in Hainan saw sales break 550 million yuan from Dec 31 to Jan 2, up by more than 200 percent year-on-year, according to the provincial department of commerce.

For winter-experience seekers, Hebei province's Zhangjiakou and Heilongjiang province's capital, Harbin, were popular during the holiday.

Occupancies at five-star hotels in Zhangjiakou surged by 1,005 percent year-on-year. The figure was 561 percent for four-star hotels and 1,076 percent for three-star establishments, Trip.com Group reports.