Night view of Guangzhou's landmark Canton Tower in Guangdong province on May 20, 2018. (PHOTO / VCG)
Guangdong province’s culture and tourism industry is showing a strong bounceback from the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic as effective control of the coronavirus infections and the vaccine rollout program on the Chinese mainland boost people’s enthusiasm for travel.
Guangdong received more than 42.78 million visits from May 1 to 5, the Chinese mainland’s five-day holiday break, soaring nearly 130 percent year-on-year, according to preliminary statistics from the provincial culture and tourism department. Travelers spent about 26.52 billion yuan (US$4.1 billion), representing a 156 percent surge.
Guangdong received more than 42.78 million visits from May 1 to 5, the Chinese mainland’s five-day holiday break, soaring nearly 130 percent year-on-year, according to preliminary statistics from the provincial culture and tourism department. Travelers spent about 26.52 billion yuan (US$4.1 billion), representing a 156 percent surge
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The figures show that the tourism industry in Guangdong has recovered to the pre-pandemic level and continued to grow as both tourism arrivals and revenue during the five-day holiday recorded double-digit growth from the same period in 2019, 11.6 percent and 13.7 percent, respectively.
According to online travel agency Ctrip, Guangzhou, the provincial capital, was among the top three most popular tourist destinations in the country during the break, following Beijing and Shanghai. Of the top 10 most sought-after air routes, six involved Guangzhou or Shenzhen.
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Occupancy rate and average prices in hotels in Guangdong province both increased as a result of increased bookings. Data from mobile payment platform Alipay show that the sum of consumption in hotels in such Guangdong cities as Shantou and Zhanjiang were over 21 times the size over the same period in 2019. Transaction volume in Zhanjiang hotels soard 77 times.
Zhu Shaodong, president of GZL International Travel Service Ltd, said customized and high-end tours are gaining popularity and such demand grew “explosively” during this May Day holiday, which shows the tourism industry is moving toward high-quality development.