Return of visitors propels Chinese tourism despite Covid-19
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China reported that the 308 million journeys that occurred during the traditional Chinese New Year Festivals, held for the first time since 2020 without restrictions in order to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, represent an advance of 23.1% compared to the same period of 2022.
The tourism sector profited from the return of visitors, generating 375,800 million yuan, a 30% increase compared to last year and 73.1% of pre-pandemic income in during the 2019 holidays.
This festive period, during which the Chinese usually return to their hometowns, began this year on January 21 and will end on February 15. Despite the large number of trips and the chances of an increase in cases of Covid-19, Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist of the country’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said it would not lead to a “big rebound”.
In late December, China started to dismantle its ‘zero covid’ policy. Since then, according to official figures, 72,696 people have died of the disease between December 8 and January 19.