China saw a total of 782 million domestic tourist trips made during the seven-day National Day holiday, up 7.81% from last year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Tourism revenue reached nearly 650 billion yuan (about US$90.94 billion) during the holiday, up by 8.47%, officials said. The country’s scenic sites also received more domestic travelers, up 42% from last year, CGTN.com reported.
“Red Tourism,” or tourism themed on the revolution, remained a highlight. About 78.84% of the tourists participated in activities celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, according to statistics from the ministry.
About 66.4% of the tourists visited sites related to history and culture, while 44.96% participated in nighttime tourist activities. Over seven million outbound trips were made by the Chinese during the holiday, said the ministry.
Meanwhile, box office revenue on the Chinese mainland totaled about five billion yuan (about US$699.54 million) during the holiday, making it the highest-grossing National Day film season in history, the report said.
According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, the combined sales of retail and catering enterprises in China rose by 8.5%t year on year during the weeklong National Day holiday which ended on Monday.
Between October 1 and 7, the total sales of China’s retail and catering firms reached 1.52 trillion yuan (about US$215 billion), the ministry said in a statement on its website.
While tourism, culture and sports-related consumption maintained rapid growth, the sales of organic food, fashion clothes, smart home appliances and new electronic devices showed dynamic performance, the report said.
The supply of daily necessities was sufficient, and the prices were generally stable during the past week, according to the ministry. Data also showed new trends in online food ordering this holiday, with more orders being placed for tourist sites.
Night fairs, midnight canteens and fantastic light shows during the holiday also provided tourists with a new way of enjoyment. Some cities selected the most popular nighttime consumption areas, entertainment places and shopping malls, offering overall guidance for tourists.
From October 1-6, late evening catering increased 54.9%, a 14.6 percentage point increase over the 40.3% growth of the entire catering industry, according to China Union Pay.
The new trend shows that China’s household consumption is moving toward quality and diversification, said Xu Guangjian, a professor at the Renmin University of China. The popularity of the night economy during the holiday is the result of the transformation and upgrading of consumption, said Xu.
And lastly, according to China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba’s latest report, the transaction volume of aromatherapy products increased by a whopping 240% during the first three days of the week.
Tmall International, the platform that sells products from overseas, saw a 30% jump in sales this holiday with Japan, the US and South Korea being the most popular markets.