China's Spring Festival travel rush, a major annual highlight, has contributed enormously to the country's consumption rebound. It is reflected in more than 9 billion passenger trips spanning the 40-day holiday period, and hundreds of millions of cross-country railway journeys. Here's why the consumption surge matters and the reasons underpinning it.
First, consumers have put their weight behind a plethora of dining, accommodation, electronics and other spending categories. These mega-diverse travel preferences have found a potent match in multimodal transportation links, helping tourists – both domestic and international – to embrace festivities while stepping up spending.
Official data published on the China State Council website removes all doubt: Nearly 8.4 billion trips were made during the season via road travel, while passenger railway traffic hovered above 510 million. With multiple transportation routes optimized in a 40-day window, the Spring Festival rush facilitated vibrant shopping and enhanced footfall at cultural locations, driving more spending. Millions of domestic travelers have also been able to leverage record-setting maritime travel to support China's domestic tourism market. This is evident in a nearly 6 percent year-on-year increase in domestic tourism, helping to spur total industry spending beyond the $93 billion mark.
Interestingly, the entertainment sector was another key contributor to holiday consumption.
For instance, nearly a week before the travel boom concluded, China's dynamic film industry had generated billions of yuan in sales revenue, underlining diverse consumer preferences. The Spring Festival entertainment offerings were also marked by high-definition viewership experiences, highlighting the strength of an industry that positioned itself as a world-leading single-market box office within this period. Blockbuster films add to the spending fervor: Ne Zha 2 exemplifies the industry's innovative, audience-friendly offerings. It helped galvanize hotel search traffic around Chinese cinemas from February 14 to 16, which saw an increase of over fivefold compared to previous weeks. This clearly illustrates a dynamic market sector and its economic ripple effect in full swing.
Reference(s):
Consumption rebound: The vitality of Spring Festival travel rush
cgtn.com
