Number of inbound and outbound travelers during the New Year holidays bounces back to 2019 levels: NIA

People visit the Sun Island scenic area in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 1, 2024. Heilongjiang Province has abundant ice-and-snow resources, making it a popular destination for winter tourism in China and attracting numerous tourists from home and abroad during the New Year holiday. (Photo: Xinhua)

According to statistics from the National Immigration Administration on Tuesday, a total of 5.179 million people were processed by border inspection agencies across China during the New Year holidays, at an average of 1.726 million people per day. This represents a 4.7-fold increase compared to the 2023 New Year holidays and represents travel volume returning to 2019 levels.

Among them, there were 2.51 million inbound travelers and 2.669 million outbound travelers. The inspection of inbound and outbound transportation vehicles reached 203,000 (including ships, trains, and vehicles), a 1.5-fold increase compared to the 2023 New Year holidays.

Data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China show that during the 3-day New Year holidays, there were 135 million domestic tourists, a year-on-year increase of 155.3 percent. Compared to the same period in 2019, there was a 9.4 percent growth based on comparable data.

Reports from various online travel platforms revealed that the domestic and international tourism markets flourished during the 3-day holidays. Among many domestic tourist destinations, Harbin in Northeast China's Heilongjiang stood out and became popular. Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions were the most popular outbound destinations.

According to a report from Tongcheng Travel, booking orders through the platform reached a new high during the 2024 New Year holidays. Winter themed travel such as ice and snow tours, hot spring tours, and winter escape tours saw a significant increase in popularity.

Compared to 2023, the travel distance of tourists during this year's New Year holidays generally increased. Data from Fliggy shows that booking numbers for medium and long-haul trips during the New Year holidays more than doubled compared to the same period in 2023, and the number of travelers has far exceeded that of the same period in 2019. Data from travel platform Mafengwo also showed that the popularity of medium and long-haul trips lasting between five to eight days covering the New Year holidays increased by 178 percent compared to last year.

The Trip Research Institute said that there remained strong demand for travel. The beginning of 2024 saw the introduction of a number of activities and policies designed to stimulate consumption across the country, setting a good start for the market in 2024.

As the first New Year holidays to resume inbound and outbound tourism in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many tourists also chose to travel abroad for the New Year.

According to Trip's data, the number of outbound travel orders from Chinese mainland during the New Year holidays increased nearly fourfold compared to the previous year, with outbound flight bookings increasing by 11 percent month-on-month and 265 percent year-on-year. The average ticket price was nearly 60 percent that of the 2023 New Year holidays.

On Monday, the Macao Special Administrative Region Tourism Office announced that there were approximately 28.23 million inbound tourists in 2023, with an average of 77,000 per day, reaching 70 percent of 2019 levels. In addition, there were 175,030 inbound tourists on December 31, setting a new record for daily inbound tourists since the pandemic.

Furthermore, with major cruise lines restarting routes from China, a long-awaited development, many were keen to spread the break at sea. Data from Tongcheng Travel showed that the popularity of international cruises increased by 63 percent during the 2024 New Year holidays.

The most popular domestic destinations among customized travelers were Harbin, Sanya, Beijing, Lijiang, and Xishuangbanna. For outbound travel, Tokyo, Bangkok, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Singapore, and Bali were the top choices, according to Trip.