(Photo/Chinanews.com)

Last year, Chinese citizens spent an average of 65 minutes on leisure and entertainment activities every day, 25 minutes more than they did in 2008, according to the second national time use survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China in 2018.

Tourism, as an important form of leisure, is more valuable to Chinese citizens today than it was 10 years ago, and the change in how people spend their time reflects the growing demand for tourism in the last decade.

China recently announced an extension to this year’s Labor Day holiday from one to four days, causing an immediate explosion in the search for flight tickets on online tourism platforms. The search volume for international flights increased tenfold.

During the recent three-day Qingming Festival, 112 million trips were made.

According to the NBS, 5.54 billion domestic trips were made in China over the last year, over three times more than in 2008. Additionally, 162 million people traveled to overseas destinations in 2018, while only 45.84 million went abroad a decade before.

Thanks to the tourism boom, the industry is now able to better promote cultural products. For instance, museums, seldom visited before, are now gaining popularity. In 2018 alone, over 1 billion people visited museums across the country.

Over the past decade or so, tourism has extended its reach to more and more sectors, and service quality is also on the rise. From facility building to enhancing humanistic care, attractions, hotels and other relevant industries are endeavoring to offer a more comfortable environment for tourists.

Over the past 10 years, China maintained double-digit growth in its outbound tourism market, and sometimes even hit 20 percent or above. It is the world’s largest source of tourists and the largest country in regards to tourism consumption.

Outbound tourism has now become a common option for the many, rather than a privilege for the few.