BEIJING, Feb 12 — As the Lunar New Year holiday draws to a close, early stats suggest that Chinese travel increased this year, notably by air.
Between February 4 and 10, China recorded a total of 415 million trips, reports state media Xinhua News, marking an eight per cent increase compared to last year.
Tourism revenue also spiked eight per cent, grossing 513.9 billion yuan (RM310.4 billion).
The increase in tourist activity is attributed to higher disposable incomes and improved transportation infrastructure.
During what’s known as the world’s largest annual human migration, hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens make the pilgrimage back to their hometowns to celebrate Chinese New Year with their families or use the time off to visit museums, galleries and libraries. Visits to cultural spaces also recorded major spikes — upwards of 44 per cent, reports Xinhua News.
During the same period, the Civil Aviation Administration of China reports that holidaymakers made 12.59 million trips by air this year, up 11 per cent compared to 2018.
It’s estimated that overall, air travellers are expected to make 73 million trips during the 40-day travel rush between January 21 and March 1 — up 12 per cent.
Likewise, railway trips are expected to grow eight per cent to hit 413 million over January 21-March 1. For the period February 4-10, Chinese travellers made 60.3 million train trips, 12.6 million on February 10 alone. — AFP-Relaxnews
