Observer Network·Daju Financial News. Recently, the US "New York Times" published a report entitled "China's "Eleventh" Golden Week Boosts Hard-hit Tourism Industry".

  According to the report, in any year, spending during the one-week Golden Week holiday is a barometer of the health of China's economy.

  This is especially true this year. When people squeeze into trains, crowd in ancient temples and do everything that people in many other countries still can only dream of, this is the clearest signal to date that China has recovered from the epidemic.

Screenshot of the original New York Times report

  Despite the lingering fears about the virus and the economy, Chinese tourists are still scattered across the country in droves during the "Eleventh Golden Week".

  Reports show that the Great Wall has deployed more security personnel across the country to deal with the surge in tourists; the number of hotel reservations in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, has increased by 600% over the same period last year; in Wuhan, the Yellow Crane Tower is popular among tourists. Ranked first among the "National Most Popular Scenic Spots" by major travel agencies.

  Golden Week is an annual shopping and travel carnival established before and after the National Day celebrations on October 1. It is also the first major holiday since China has controlled the epidemic.

  According to the report, preliminary signs confirm two trends.

First, China has returned to a near-normal state at an alarming rate.

Second, the chain reaction brought about by the epidemic continues.

  Affected by the epidemic, people's travel patterns have changed, and an increasing number of Chinese outbound tourists are returning to China.

  According to the report, China's official tourism research agency predicts that during the eight-day holiday period, there will be 550 million domestic trips this year, but only 70% of the number of people in the same period last year. This reflects the fact that there are considerable A large number of people are left at home.

  A report by the online travel agency Ctrip showed that demand for hotels in remote areas such as Lhasa has surged this year, reflecting the desire to find "distant places".

  According to the report, since August 15th, China has not reported any locally transmitted symptomatic cases.

Recently, Beijing no longer requires people to wear masks all the time, and Wuhan’s large pool parties have attracted international attention.

The central government announced September 9 to October 8 as "National Consumer Promotion Month", with the slogan "Enjoy a Good Life".

  However, the impact of the epidemic on the tourism industry continues.

According to data from online travel company Qunar.com, although the number of passengers on domestic flights during the "Golden Week" period is expected to increase by 10% over the same period last year, the average ticket price of many routes is lower than in previous years.

  Ms. Li, a staff member of the Shanghai Travel Agency, said that the full recovery of the tourism industry is still far away. “Every company is desperately thinking about how to survive, not how to make money.”

  Zhang Tianbing, who is in charge of the consumer products and retail team in the Asia-Pacific region of Deloitte, a global consulting firm, said that China’s experience shows that once the epidemic is contained, consumption will quickly rebound.

  (The original title is "New York Times: "October" Golden Week is the clearest signal of China's recovery")

  Lu Siye/Observer Network·Daju Finance