This aerial photo shows tourists visiting the Harbin Ice-Snow World in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Dec. 31, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)
BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- China saw a boom in the consumer market during the New Year holiday, marked by bustling tourist attractions and record box office earnings, indicating a solid start for the country's economic recovery in 2024.
During the three-day New Year holiday that ended on Monday, a total of 135 million domestic tourist trips were made, up 155.3 percent year on year, according to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The total revenue of the country's tourism market surpassed 79.73 billion yuan (about 11.23 billion U.S. dollars) in the three days, tripling that of the holiday season last year and increasing 5.6 percent from 2019.
According to data from the leading travel platform Trip.com, bookings for domestic trips on the platform rocketed 168 percent compared with the same period in 2023, while that of outbound trips registered a 4.88-fold increase.
Cold weather that affected many parts of the country during the holiday did not dampen people's enthusiasm for ice-snow festivals, concerts and family travel.
On Alibaba's travel platform Fliggy, bookings for ice and snow leisure during the holiday increased 126 percent from a year earlier. The most popular destinations included Harbin, Changchun and Baishan in northeast China as well as Urumqi in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Zhangjiakou in north China's Hebei Province.
Harbin, the capital city of northeastern Heilongjiang Province, took advantage of its winter landscape to promote ice and snow tourism by holding various activities and offering consumer coupons. The city attracted more than 3 million visitors during the holiday, with a combined tourism revenue of 5.91 billion yuan, both reaching record highs.
During the three-day holiday, the country's total passenger volume on railways, roads, waterways and airways nationwide topped 120 million, up 78.4 percent compared with the previous New Year holiday, according to the Ministry of Transport.
The country's box office also kicked off 2024 with a record-high revenue of approximately 1.53 billion yuan during the holiday, with the revenue figure breaking the previous record of 1.3 billion yuan set during the same holiday in 2021, signaling a restorative growth trend in Chinese film consumption.
Data from e-commerce platform Meituan showed that online payment for catering across the country surged 230 percent year on year during the three days.
Sales of jewelry, construction materials and furniture also surged during the period, increasing 21.2 percent, 13.1 percent and 12.9 percent from a year earlier, respectively, according to data from major retailers monitored by the Ministry of Commerce.
China's car rental provider CAR Inc. also saw a boost in its car rental services, reaching a new peak with nationwide rental rates ranging between 70 percent and 90 percent during the holiday period. ■
