First half year's tourism numbers to pick up

In the first half of this year, China's tourism revenue will reach 1.28 trillion yuan ($195 billion), up 102 percent year-on-year, according to estimates from the China Tourism Academy.

More than 1.7 billion domestic trips are expected to be made within China in H1, up 85 percent year-on-year, as announced by the academy during an online news conference on Friday.

Dai Bin, director of the CTA, says the number of domestic tourist trips during the upcoming 5-day Labor Day holiday will reach or even surpass figures before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a survey by the academy, more than 83 percent of respondents said they are willing to travel in Q2 of 2021, up 1.02 percentage points and 4.93 percentage points compared with Q1 of 2021 and Q2 of 2020 respectively.

In Q1 of 2021, a total of 697 million domestic trips were made and the country's tourism revenue reached 560 billion yuan, increasing by 136 percent and 150 percent year-on-year respectively.

"China's tourism industry is enjoying speedy recovery," Dai says. "It will see a tourism boom in the third quarter of this year, especially during the weeklong National Day holiday."