Tourism hit by worsening epidemic

Tomb Sweeping Day holiday sees fewer people traveling, industry revenue down

The domestic tourism market took a blow from the worsening COVID-19 situation in many parts of the country, with a marked decrease in those traveling and revenue generated during the just finished Tomb Sweeping Day holiday.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Tuesday night showed that the domestic tourism market saw about 75.4 million trips from Sunday to Tuesday, falling by 26.2 percent from the same period of the previous year.

Tourism-related revenue was around 18.8 billion yuan ($2.95 billion) over the three days, a year-on-year decrease of 30.9 percent, the ministry said.

Dai Huihui, a researcher from the China Tourism Academy, said at an online conference on Wednesday that short-distance tours near the travelers' home or place of work were the most popular choices during the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, as people pursued safe and high-quality trips.

She said that travelers held a cautious attitude toward trips over the holiday, and 80 percent of them visited attractions in their own cities or neighboring cities.

Qunar, an online travel agency, said most of its users chose to appreciate local blossoming flowers and go camping in suburban areas over the break, which drove an increase in bookings for hotels and homestays in the countryside.

According to a report by Qunar, residents in Beijing, Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province and Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province showed the most passion for short-distance tours during the period.

"We've seen that since late February, both the number of travelers and tourism-related consumption have shown a weaker performance compared to the same period of the previous year due to the sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks. Tourism-related consumption even hit a record low in Jilin province and Shanghai," Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, said at the online conference on Wednesday.

"Company operators' confidence and people's desire to travel fall at the same time.

"It's understandable that tourism industry insiders and business operators want the nation to defeat the epidemic soon and reopen the inbound and outbound tourism market, as well as loosening the control measures for the domestic market," he said.

"However, nothing can hamper Chinese people's pursuit for a better life. We always have confidence in the tourism industry."

Thanks to the government's supporting policies since early February, and the development of short-distance tours, leisure tours, winter sports and the emergence of cultural attractions, Dai said, the academy had relative optimism for the tourism market in the first half of 2022.

"But the epidemic can still bring uncertainty to the market. We should closely follow the nation's policy in controlling the epidemic, people's desire to travel and company confidence," he added.

"It's estimated that the domestic tourism market will see over 1.9 billion trips in the first half of the year with revenue generated projected to reach 1.71 trillion yuan over the period," he said.