According to provincial authorities, passenger traffic in Hainan increased by almost 30% year over year during the holiday season.
According to official figures, half a million visitors have visited the province’s top-rated tourism destinations, which are classified as AAAAA or AAAA sites under the country’s official rating system, representing a 43% increase year on year compared to 2023 and a 17% increase from 2019.
On Wednesday, Hainan authorities said they were searching for ways to schedule more flights after it was reported that there was a lack of planes exiting the island, forcing visitors to buy pricey business-class tickets at roughly 10,000 yuan (US$1,390).
Airlines advised travelers to avoid leaving the airport in the resort city of Sanya and instead return home via the nearby cities of Haikou and Boao.
Tourist spots throughout the country are extremely popular with domestic visitors.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, travel bookings in Shaanxi’s provincial capital Xian, which is recognized for its cultural attractions, increased 317 percent year on year, with tourism site ticket sales up 480 percent from the previous year.
To divert the rush of tourists, the city had to open the entrance to its historic drum tower, which had been locked for a decade to aid with restoration efforts.
Nanjing, the capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, saw roughly 6 million tourists in the first three days of the holiday, up 327.1 percent from the same period last year.
Ctrip, China’s largest travel business, reported a 40% increase in bookings for the northeastern city of Harbin compared to the first day of Lunar New Year in 2023.
However, Harbin began closing numerous attractions on Tuesday due to warming weather, making the city’s tourist destinations, known for its winter ice palaces and snow sculptures, dangerous for tourists.
On Monday, the Jiuzhaigou picturesque area in the southwestern province of Sichuan saw 28,407 tourists, a 104.26 percent increase over the previous year. The amount set a new single-day record for site views, increasing 31% over the previous high set in 2017. The area is well-known for its breathtaking karst landscapes and waterfalls.
Many tourist destinations were fully booked throughout the holiday season. Tickets to the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Shanghai Museum East, and the Nanjing Museum are all sold out till February 17, the last day of the holiday.
The increase in travel has been aided by this year’s prolonged public holiday, which lasts eight days rather than the normal seven, as well as an economic recovery following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions that hampered the holiday the previous three years.
In addition, more Chinese travelers chose to celebrate the Lunar New Year overseas than in prior years. The National Immigration Administration stated on Monday that it projected 1.8 million inbound and outgoing travels each day during the holiday season, which is almost 3.3 times more than last year’s total and above the 1.77 million recorded in 2019.
China expects a steady comeback in its post-pandemic tourism sector. According to a forecast by Chinese tech company Baidu, total travel during the eight-day holiday will increase by more than 40% over last year.
According to a survey released in early February by the China Tourism Academy, Chinese individuals will take up to 6 billion domestic trips this year, which is almost the same as in 2019.