Shanxi rejoices as tourism rebounds over May Day break

Hukou Waterfall in Jixian county, Shanxi province, is full of visitors on May 1. [Photo/Shanxi Daily] 

North China's Shanxi province saw its cultural and tourism market rebound during this year's May Day holiday from April 29 to May 3. 

The Shanxi Department of Culture and Tourism and the Shanxi Department of Finance jointly launched discounted activities at 106 A-rated tourist attractions in the province to benefit tourists and support the development of related enterprises. 

Over the break, online searches for "Shanxi tourism" jumped 200 percent year-on-year; the number of air and train ticket bookings to Shanxi grew 8,700 percent; and the number of room bookings exploded by 11,600 percent from 2022.

Visitors tour the Yaowangtai scenic area in Yongji, Shanxi province, on May 1. [Photo/Shanxi Daily] 

According to China Telecom's big data on tourism, Shanxi received more tourists with each successive day over the holiday, peaking at 3,970,300 people on the fourth day. 

According to a special survey conducted by the Shanxi Tourism Big Data Joint Laboratory, more than 80 percent of tourists participated in cultural and tourism activities over the holiday, and over 95 percent were satisfied with their experience. 

Rural tourism also grew in popularity, with 70 percent of tourists in Shanxi participating in such activities. Appreciating rural scenery and experiencing folk culture were the main draws.

Visitors view a cross-rally competition in Daning county, Shanxi province, on May 1. [Photo/Shanxi Daily]

Faced with such a tourism boom, cultural and tourism departments, tourism-related institutions and industry insiders in Shanxi have done a stellar job in offering services to keep tourists smiling. 

The Shanxi Department of Culture and Tourism issued early warnings in a timely manner to avoid dangerous levels of overcrowding, and guided scenic spots to activate emergency evacuation plans in the event of large passenger flows. It also issued traffic warnings, weather forecasts and information on hot scenic spots through multiple channels, and guided tourists to arrange their itineraries in a convenient way. 

As of 17:00 on May 3, the province's cultural and tourism departments inspected 3,343 market entities, found 639 hidden dangers, and rectified 614 of them.

During the holiday, there were no travel-related safety accidents in the province. Its cultural market complaint and reporting agencies received 33 consultation calls, and accepted and taken care of seven tourism complaints.