China's annual Spring Festival travel rush, a major highlight each year, has played a pivotal role in the country's consumption rebound. Over the 40-day holiday period, more than 9 billion passenger trips were recorded, including hundreds of millions of cross-country railway journeys.
This surge in travel reflects strong consumer support across various sectors, including dining, accommodation, electronics, and more. The diverse travel preferences of tourists—both domestic and international—were well-supported by multimodal transportation links, enabling them to enjoy festivities while increasing their spending.
Official data from the China State Council website highlights that nearly 8.4 billion trips were made via road travel, with passenger railway traffic exceeding 510 million. The optimized transportation routes during the 40-day window facilitated vibrant shopping and increased footfall at cultural locations, driving higher spending. Additionally, millions of domestic travelers leveraged record-setting maritime travel to support China's domestic tourism market, contributing to a nearly 6 percent year-on-year increase in domestic tourism and pushing total industry spending beyond the $93 billion mark.
The entertainment sector also saw substantial growth during the holiday period. For example, China's dynamic film industry generated billions of yuan in sales revenue nearly a week before the travel boom concluded, underscoring diverse consumer preferences. High-definition viewership experiences during the Spring Festival highlighted the strength of an industry that positioned itself as a world-leading single-market box office. Blockbuster films like \"Ne Zha 2\" exemplified the industry's innovative, audience-friendly offerings, boosting hotel search traffic around Chinese cinemas by over fivefold between February 14 and 16. This trend illustrates the dynamic market sector and its full-fledged economic ripple effect.
Reference(s):
Consumption rebound: The vitality of Spring Festival travel rush
cgtn.com
