China is on the move again

The confluence of the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou with the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and the Golden Week holiday period is leading to a surge in tourism in China.

Why it matters

The next few weeks are expected to give a welcome boost to shopping and tourism in an economy best with problems. The numbers of people on the move are truly staggering: even in 2020, with pandemic restrictions in place, more than 630 million people travelled during Golden Week, generating 466 billion yuan in tourism revenue. 

Tourism has been slow since restrictions were lifted six months ago but all the signs are that demand is growing strongly for the first long holiday period since then. 

What’s happening 

• Hotel rooms in Hangzhou and co-host cities for the Asian Games are almost sold out, China Daily reports.
• 199 million railway tickets have been sold in the past week. 
• Data from travel service provider Trip.com shows that, compared to last year’s Golden Week, domestic travel is up 4x and outbound travel up 20x.
• Trip.com also notes that outbound travellers are more willing to pay for in-depth experiences and high-quality services.

Sourced from China Daily, Trip.com, Reuters, CNBC