Children wearing traditional Chinese costumes enjoy leisure time in an ancient town in Xuchang, central China's Henan Province, May 1, 2025. (Photo by Niu Shupei/Xinhua)
BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- This year's May Day holiday saw a surge in both the scale and quality of cultural and tourism consumption across China.
Domestic trips during the five-day holiday reached 314 million, up 6.4 percent year on year, while total tourism spending hit 180.27 billion yuan (approximately 25.4 billion U.S. dollars), with an 8 percent year-on-year increase, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed.
The holiday showcased diversified travel trends. Tourism demand surged in third-tier and smaller cities, while student and senior traveler numbers registered notable increases. Over 23 music festivals nationwide catalyzed cultural tourism spending. Parallel growth emerged in catering and retail sectors, highlighting the holiday economy's sustained momentum.
-- Holiday travel boom
Travel enthusiasm soared during this holiday. Data from online travel platform Qunar showed a 30 percent year-on-year increase in trips driven by combined annual leave and public holidays. Air ticket bookings by college students and seniors saw the sharpest rises. Third-tier cities and counties outpaced first-tier cities in flight bookings. Hotels in cities hosting music festivals saw reservations triple.
"With longer holidays, people traveled farther. Qunar users booked hotels in 1,837 global cities, 432 more than last year," said Cai Muzi, a researcher at Qunar's Big Data Research Institute.
Per capita spending surged. According to Fliggy, Alibaba's online travel platform, there was a significant jump in holiday spending, with bookings for high-star hotels under its direct operations rising over 20 percent year-on-year. Return trips peaked later, extending the average travel duration.
The Ministry of Transport reported over 1.46 billion cross-regional trips during the holiday, averaging 293.19 million daily, up 7.9 percent year on year.
Self-driving trips dominated both long-distance and local travel. Data from Ctrip, China's leading travel platform, revealed a 24 percent rise in per capita car rental spending, with average rental periods extending to four days.
-- Consumer market heats up
During the May Day holiday, the combination of travel, vacation, and family visits, along with the rise of "foodie tourism," "camping trips," and "heritage tours," enriched tourists' holiday experiences and significantly boosted the prosperity and vibrancy of the consumer market.
China's Ministry of Commerce reported a 6.3 percent year-on-year increase in sales at key retail and catering firms. Sales of home appliances, automobiles, and communication devices rose by 15.5 percent, 13.7 percent, and 10.5 percent year on year, respectively. E-commerce platforms saw smart home product sales jump over 20 percent year on year.
Catering and cultural tourism thrived. Key monitored catering enterprises posted an 8.7 percent sales increase. Haidilao hotpot restaurants in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu reported high foot traffic. Its Hangzhou store near West Lake achieved a table turnover rate exceeding 11 rounds daily, peaking at 12.
"Tourists accounted for 80 percent of customers at our Shanghai People's Square branch, with 20 percent being foreign visitors. Evening wait times started at 5 p.m. and lasted until 9:30 p.m.," said a Haidilao manager.
-- Deep integration of culture and tourism
Museums and heritage sites drew massive crowds. The National Cultural Heritage Administration reported over 60.49 million museum visits during the holiday, up 17 percent year on year, setting a record.
Family-friendly venues like the Sanxingdui Museum and China National Museum topped popularity charts. The viral "hand-holding figurines" at Luoyang Museum attracted numerous visitors.
55 national archaeological parks received 3.31 million visits, up 2.3 percent year on year.
Ctrip analyst Fang Zeqian noted that attractions such as Tengwang Pavilion and Yueyang Tower offered free entry to visitors who could recite classical texts like the Preface to Tengwang Pavilion or the Yueyang Tower Record, blending tourism with cultural education.
(Edited by Tian Shenyoujia with Xinhua Silk Road, tianshenyoga0524@163.com)
A single purchase
