The income of domestic tourism is booming and the income has doubled.
This "May 1st", China is the envy of the world (international argument)
During this "May 1st" holiday, China's domestic tourism is very hot.
Foreign media are looking for the reasons behind them: long-term and unrelenting epidemic prevention and gradual restoration of consumer confidence are indispensable.
This "May 1st" holiday is a long holiday that China has ushered in after basically controlling the domestic epidemic.
This allows the world to see life in the post-epidemic era.
Enjoy a small holiday
"China's tourism industry is prosperous, whether it is restaurants, airlines, hotels, bars, luxury shopping malls." Long-term Chinese blogger Sean Ryan said that he failed to book his favorite hotel during May 1st. The room was sold out in April.
This is exactly the foreign media's overall impression of China's "May 1st" small holiday tourism.
Reuters pointed out in a pre-holiday report that this year’s "May 1st" holiday is the first long holiday that China has ushered in after basically controlling the domestic epidemic. It will release the travel enthusiasm that has accumulated for several months. .
A report on the Bloomberg News website on April 29 noted that bookings ranging from domestic flight tickets to theme park tickets were quickly sold out before China’s May Day holiday.
"The landmark of Wuhan in Hubei-Yellow Crane Tower has sold 10,000 tickets; museum tickets across the country have also been sold out." German "Bild" pointed out.
The "May 1st" Golden Week has just begun. Chinese tourists are either returning home to visit relatives, or "contracting" large and small scenic spots and restaurants. The AFP reporters were amazed by the fact that "China's Labor Day tourism boom let us I have a glimpse of life after the epidemic is under control."
The Deutsche Welle radio website published a report entitled "The haze of the epidemic dissipated in China, and the "May Day" holiday ushered in the peak of tourism." This "May 1st" holiday ushered in a new peak of tourism.
As the epidemic is basically under control and vaccination work is being promoted everywhere, many Chinese people can't wait to start domestic travel.
This is indeed the case.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China disclosed on May 5 that during the May 1st holiday, 230 million domestic tourists traveled nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 119.7%; domestic tourism revenue was RMB 113.23 billion, a year-on-year increase of 138.1%.
Spain's "Abbeza" website reported on May 5 that during the five-day "May 1st" International Labor Day holiday, Chinese people went out for fun one after another.
The data for this holiday set a new record since the epidemic, marking that the country has returned to normal.
Don't relax
China's "May 1st" domestic tourism boom is inseparable from the never-relaxed epidemic prevention measures.
According to the Latin American News Agency, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China pointed out in its newly released "Notice on Further Strengthening the Prevention and Control of the Epidemic During the May 1st Holiday" that cultural and tourism departments in various regions must strictly implement epidemic prevention and control measures and guide tourism. Scenic spots will further implement the requirements of "limited, appointment, and peak shifting", strictly regulate the wearing of masks, and strengthen ventilation and disinfection management in confined spaces such as museums and cultural and entertainment venues.
Spain’s “Herald” website reported that China still issued a cautious voice before the holiday, demanding tourist attractions to limit the number of tourists.
Visitors also need to register at the attraction and show a "health code" to prove that they are not at risk of infecting others.
Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" reported that in China, whenever a confirmed case occurs, a large-scale nucleic acid test will be carried out immediately, and the relevant area will be completely blocked.
Sometimes, in just a few days from the discovery of a case, the number of people tested will exceed tens of millions.
Personnel exchanges with foreign countries are also under strict control.
Since the end of March last year, the number of international flights has been restricted, and immigrants are required to undergo a thorough quarantine at designated hotels for at least 14 days, are not allowed to contact the outside world during the entire process, and undergo multiple nucleic acid tests during the period.
In addition, China is continuing to advance its vaccination program.
The Spanish "Abbeza" website reported that according to data from China's National Health Commission, as of May 2, a total of more than 275 million doses of the new crown vaccine have been reported in mainland China.
China plans to vaccinate 40% of the population (about 560 million people) against the new crown by the end of June this year.
The South China Morning Post also noted that even on public holidays, China’s epidemic prevention workers are still fighting on the front line to provide residents with vaccination services.
As Bloomberg and The Associated Press said, measures to effectively control the spread of the epidemic in the early stage of the epidemic helped China consolidate its economic rebound, “and China’s ability to extinguish the “single spark” of the epidemic in time” and the ongoing large-scale vaccination, "Giving people the confidence to stick to the domestic travel plan."
The recovery is accelerating
Bloomberg pointed out in the report that the "May 1st" small holiday tourism is hot, showing that China's recovery in the post-epidemic era is gradually accelerating.
Why do so many Chinese choose to travel on vacation?
German "Bild" believes that the new economic growth is an important factor, "because of this, more Chinese can afford to travel and vacation."
Statistics show that in the first quarter of this year, the per capita disposable income of Chinese residents reached RMB 9,730, an increase of 13.7% over the same period in 2020 and an increase of 14.6% over 2019.
Reuters noticed the growth of China's gold consumption demand.
The improvement of economic conditions, the fall in gold prices and the impact of the holiday economy have stimulated Chinese consumers' desire to buy gold jewelry.
Reuters, citing data from the World Gold Council, pointed out that the gold demand of Chinese consumers in the first quarter of 2021 increased by 286.4 tons over the previous quarter.
CMC chief market analyst Michael Hewson believes that the performance of the Chinese economy is impressive, "Chinese consumers seem to have particularly strong spending power."
He pointed out that from the data from January to February, it can be seen that with the recovery of the Chinese economy, the mood of Chinese consumers is steadily recovering.
John Lear, an economic analyst at the American Morning Consultancy, pointed out that the Chinese consumer confidence index was 156.85 in early April, 2.36 points higher than in March, and even higher than the level in October 2019 (153.14).
"This is the first time since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic at the end of 2019, the confidence of Chinese consumers in their country has exceeded the level before the epidemic."
Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" website reported that the Chinese people's willingness to travel during the "May Day" has changed from cautious to positive.
In the future, with the large-scale vaccination and the richer experience in epidemic prevention in various regions, under the "domestic cycle" model, China's tourism market will continue to show a high probability of sustained and stable recovery.
Foreign media generally believe that the active tourism market is another "bolster" for China's economy and will promote the recovery of China after the epidemic.
When the South China Morning Post reported on China's "May 1st" holiday, it used "Strengthening Needle" in its headline.
Foreign netizens have also pointed out that the boom in tourism during the May 1st holiday in China should make international investors full of confidence: "If your company has not invested in China on a large scale, it will be too late to come again!"
Zhang Hong