National Day holiday sees Shanxi tourism boom

Shanxi province received 64.87 million tourists during the National Day holiday on Oct 1-7 – representing an increase of 18.86 percent year-on-year – when it generated tourism revenue of 42.207 billion yuan ($5.91 billion), for year-on-year growth of 20.67 percent.

A total of 4,921,100 tourists visited 36 major scenic spots in the province, contributing 178.57 million yuan to ticket sales at the scenic spots.

The visitors to Shanxi province were mainly from Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Guangdong provinces, Beijing, Tianjin and Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Officials said that those from Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi provinces, Beijing and Inner Mongolia autonomous region accounted for 60 percent of the tourists to Shanxi.

The statistics showed that young and middle-aged tourists aged between 19 and 55 comprised the majority of the visitors to the province.

Local officials said family tours have become the mainstay for the region's holiday tourism, accounting for 64.4 percent. Looking at travel modes, the proportion of travelling by high-speed train or train reached 58.4 percent, they added.

Industry observers said the "night economy" has been booming and tourism spending is getting stronger.

During the holiday, 32.5 percent of tourists chose to travel at night. Residents in Shanxi province accounted for two-thirds of total travel spending and tourists from other regions made up the remaining one third.