Golden Week holiday data shows consumption boom

This year's combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday in China, from Sept 29 to Oct 6, saw a surge in consumption, as reflected in data.

The extended Golden Week holiday showcased a vibrant travel and entertainment landscape with busy highways, crowded tourist spots and a thriving film industry.

Chinese people made over 800 million domestic tourist trips and tourism-related revenue surpassed 750 billion yuan, reflecting sustained enthusiasm and growing numbers.

These trends highlight people's desire for a better life and China's strong economic vitality.

This year's eight-day holiday showed a strong rebound in the domestic tourism sector, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

During the holiday, spanning from Sept 29 to Friday, domestic attractions welcomed around 826 million visitors, marking a 71.3 percent year-on-year increase and a 4.1 percent growth compared to 2019 figures before the pandemic.

Tourism-related revenue also surged, totaling about 753.4 billion yuan ($103 billion) over the eight days, a year-on-year increase of 129.5 percent and a 1.5 percent growth compared to 2019 numbers.

National-level nighttime cultural and tourism hubs played a vital role in boosting nighttime consumer activity. From 6:00 pm on Sept 28 to 6:00 am on Oct 6, these 243 hubs attracted 112 million visitors, averaging 57,600 visitors per night, marking a substantial increase in foot traffic and economic activity.

According to the Ministry of Transport, on the Oct 6, or the final day of the combined holiday, China is expected to see a total of 59.89 million travelers across railways, highways, waterways and civil aviation, a 58.4 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022.

Specifically, a total of 18.8 million passengers were expected to be served by railways, which is a 156.1 percent jump from 2022.

Civil aviation accommodated 2.24 million passengers and national expressways hosted 57.85 million vehicles, representing a surge of 176.0 percent and 66.2 percent from the previous year, respectively.

Border inspection agencies across China saw more than 11.8 million entry and exit trips made during the eight-day holiday, with an average of 1.48 million trips per day, a 2.9-fold increase compared with the same period of 2022, according to the National Immigration Administration.

Meituan, a popular service platform in China, published data on consumer spending during the Golden Week holiday on Oct 5.

It showed that daily average spending on services and retail across the country increased by 153 percent compared to the same period in 2019, making it the most prosperous Golden Week in five years.

The top five cities in terms of spending during this holiday were Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Shenzhen.

This year's holiday also saw a notable increase in dining out. Data showed that in-restaurant dining spending across the country grew by 254 percent compared to 2019.

The availability of high-quality dining options contributed to the boost in the restaurant industry during the holiday season.

As of 9:00 pm on Oct 6, the total box office earnings for the Golden Week holiday reached 2.72 billion yuan ($376.09 million), according to box office tracker Beacon.

The total number of moviegoers during this year's holiday period exceeded 65 million, with a total of 3.53 million screenings, marking a more than 70 percent increase in box office earnings compared to the previous year's holiday season.

Zhang Yimou's crime suspense movie Under The Light secured the top spot with earnings of 880 million yuan, followed by The Ex-Files 4: Marriage Plan and The Volunteers: To the War in second and third place, respectively.