Ching Ming spending spree surpasses pre-Covid levels

Domestic travel and spending on the mainland during last week’s extended Ching Ming Festival rose by more than 10 per cent from pre-pandemic levels, with consumption continuing to be a major driver of economic recovery.

More than 119 million domestic trips were logged during the three-day holiday ending Saturday, marking an increase of 11.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Beijing.

Revenue from domestic travel totalled 53.95 billion yuan (HK$58.37 billion), up by 12.7 per cent from the pre-pandemic year, the ministry said.

The mainland is banking on tourism and consumption to power its post-pandemic economic recovery, as a deepening property sector crisis and weak private sector and foreign investor confidence continue to weigh on overall growth.

Ching Ming or “tomb sweeping” festival is a day for honouring the dead by sweeping their resting places and burning paper offerings. This year’s festival fell on a Thursday, allowing it to be extended into the weekend, with yesterday declared a working day instead.

Last year’s holiday lasted only a day, having fallen on a Wednesday, and was the first since the mainland began lifting its stringent “zero-Covid” restrictions a few months earlier.

More than 23.7 million domestic tourist trips were made that day – up by nearly a quarter from the previous year – while travelrelated revenue grew by 29 per cent to 6.52 billion yuan, according to official figures.

Tourists this year flocked to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuhan and Changsha. Other cities that saw visitor numbers soar included Tianshui in Gansu province, which became a trending travel destination after social media influencers raved about its spicy soup dish malatang.

As many as 16 million train trips were made per day, according to the transport ministry, marking a 75.3 per cent surge in average daily rail traffic compared to last year. And daily trips by air averaged 1.7 million, an increase of close to 24 per cent.

The travel rush, which started a day early on Wednesday, was disrupted after a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan triggered cancellations and major delays to rail services in eastern and southern parts of the mainland. Services returned to normal the following day.

Inbound and outbound tourism levels were close to those logged during the 2019 festival, the tourism ministry said.

For those travelling overseas, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates were among the most popular destinations, according to industry data. So were Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, with their recently introduced mutual visa-free access agreements with the mainland.

According to Trip.com, the mainland’s largest online travel agency, most inbound bookings were by travellers from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and London.

Online booking service Tongcheng Travel said popular destinations for overseas travellers included Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Xiamen and Kunming.

Hong Kong and Macau remained the top destinations for mainland travellers using Tongcheng’s services, while Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo were popular among outbound tourists.

The three-day holiday also brought a windfall for the entertainment sector, with the mainland’s total box office takings reaching a record 850 million yuan, according official figures.

Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning animated feature The Boy and the

Heron took the lead with more than 390 million yuan, or 46 per cent of the earnings.