Hong Kong (CNN) — China has reported a surge in tourism during the just concluded Labor Day holiday, but travelers cut back on their spending, in a sign that consumption in world’s second largest economy remains sluggish.
Tourists made a total of 295 million trips within mainland China during the five-day-long holiday, which ended on Sunday, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said on Monday.
That was 28% more than the number of trips taken during the Labor Day holiday period in 2019, which lasted only four days. Months later, in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic would strike China and the world, largely shutting down travel.
This year’s Labor Day tourism revenue was 166.89 billion yuan ($23.6 billion), only 13.5% higher than the 2019 level.
That means tourists were spending less money per trip compared to five years ago, as their average spending dropped 6% to 565.73 yuan ($80).
There was a similar pattern at China’s box office.
During the holiday period, 37.77 million people went to…
