According to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), scenic spots on the Chinese mainland received 230 million visits during the Labor Day holiday from May 1 to May 5, 119.7 percent more than in the same period of 2020.
Although the 2021 Labor Day holiday was two days longer than in 2020, the growth, according to analysts, benefited more from people’s desire to travel which was curbed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Data from Trip.com, a travel platform, showed that the number of bookings during the Labor Day holiday grew by 270 percent compared to that in the same period of last year, and by 30 percent compared to that in 2019. Meanwhile, the number of hotel bookings in the three days before the holiday increased by 70 percent compared to that in 2019.
Analysts warned that it does not mean a full recovery of the tourism industry, as revenue reached 113.2 billion yuan (US$16.6b), only 77 percent of that before the Covid-19 pandemic even when that holiday was shorter.
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