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During the May Day holiday, many tourists visited Hongya Cave, a scenic spot in southwestern China.
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Hong Kong
CNN
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China reported a surge in tourism during the just-concluded Labor Day holiday, but travelers are holding back on spending as consumption remains sluggish in the world’s second-largest economy. It is shown that.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on Monday that a total of 295 million tourists traveled within mainland China during the five-day holiday that ended on Sunday.
This is 28% more trips than were taken during the 2019 Labor Day holiday period, which lasted just four days. A few months later, in 2020, the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic would hit China and the world, shutting down much of travel.
This year’s Labor Day tourism revenue was 166.89 billion yuan ($23.6 billion), an increase of only 13.5% compared to 2019 levels.
This means tourists spent less on average per trip than five years ago, with the average amount spent by tourists falling by 6% to 565.73 yuan ($80).
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Passengers at Nanjing Railway Station in eastern China’s Jiangsu province on May 5, the last day of the Labor Day holiday.
There was a similar pattern at the Chinese box office.
37.77 million people went to movie theaters during the holiday period, exceeding the 35.09 million people who visited in 2019.
However, ticket sales were roughly the same as 2019 levels, reaching 1.527 billion yuan ($215.7 million).
Chinese consumers are reining in their spending amid a weak economy and worsening job prospects. Due to the record slump in the real estate market, It accounts for 70% of household assets, putting pressure on consumer sentiment.
“[Chinese] “Consumer sentiment appears to be volatile, judging by the slowing momentum in retail sales spending and the sharp reversal in services PMI in April,” TD Securities analysts said in a recent research note.
The Caixin/S&P Global Services PMI in April was 52.5, down from 52.7 the previous month, according to Monday’s private sector survey.
Government Authority Services Sub-Index According to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics last week, the non-manufacturing PMI also fell significantly to 50.3 in April from 52.4 in March. This was the lowest level since January.
Retail sales growth slowed to 3.1% in March from 5.5% in February. The consumer inflation rate rose 0.1% in March compared to the same month last year, slowing from February’s 0.7% rise, which was the first rise in six months.
