Domestic tourism eyes greater prosperity

Yearly revenue expected to match levels in 2019 as supportive policies rolled out

The prospects for China's tourism industry appear bright with the sector experiencing a good recovery in 2023, following the slump caused by COVID-19, industry officials and experts said.

According to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, domestic tourism maintained a stable growth trajectory over the past three quarters, which in turn boosted consumption and economic development.

The ministry said that domestic destinations recorded about 3.67 billion visits in the first nine months of 2023, with tourism-related revenue reaching 3.7 trillion yuan ($520 billion) during the period. The two figures mark year-on-year increases of 75 percent and 114 percent respectively.

Positive estimates about the domestic tourism market, included in a recent report by the China Tourism Academy, also provide confidence for tour operators and workers in the sector.

The report estimates that domestic tourism visits will surpass 5.4 billion this year, with the number reaching 90 percent of what it was in 2019, before COVID-19 hit.

"Some major indexes measuring the industry's recovery and development, including the number of visits to domestic destinations, traveling distances and duration of single trips during China's major holidays such as May Day and the National Day, have all outperformed 2019 figures," Dai Bin, president of the tourism academy, said at a recent forum in Shanghai.

"China's tourism economy will embrace greater prosperity in the future after experiencing a three-year slump due to the epidemic and a quick recovery in 2023," he added.

Central departments started to ease travel restrictions at the beginning of this year after the epidemic abated. Some incentive policies were also released by the government to boost tourism.

For example, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released a three-year domestic tourism promotion plan on Nov 13, with the goal of achieving reasonable growth of high-quality domestic tourism by 2025. In September, the State Council, China's Cabinet, released a State-level guideline to focus on the growth of tourism-related consumption, higher-quality development of the industry and the country's economy, as well as improving people's overall lives.

Du Jiang, vice-minister of culture and tourism, said at a recent news conference that the ministry will continue to optimize the policies for tourism companies and operators in order to boost their confidence in investing and the public's confidence in consumption.

"We will improve tourism product supplies and tourism services, and also tighten supervision of the market to make the destinations more traveler-friendly," Du said. "We are making efforts to introduce a three-year promotion plan for inbound tourism in the near future, which will offer higher-quality products and more convenience for international travelers."