(Yicai Global) Oct. 9 -- Some 637 million domestic tourists ventured out on excursions during China's eight day-long combined National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, a figure that recovered by 79 percent annually post-Covid-19. These trippers shelled out about CNY466.6 billion (USD69.2 billion), 69.9 percent of last year's expenditures

This tourism tide topped the projection of 550 million by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism before the vacation, The Paper reported yesterday, citing ministry statistics.

Several online travel agencies also issued reports yesterday detailing travel and consumption data during the holidays -- which unusually coincided this year -- that show large gains in Chinese confidence in tourism and consumption, with the scale of both surging from pre-holiday levels. The nation's transport, hotel, tourist attraction and souvenir sectors all revived to differing degrees in the period.

Bookings for flights, trains, buses and various other means of transport all notched up growth on its platform, data from China's largest online travel agency Trip.Com show. Flight bookings surged more than 100 percent monthly, while those for trains and buses climbed respectively over 300 and 200 percent from past months.

Hotel bookings placed via Meituan's application during the first four days of the combined holiday more than trebled from this year's May Day holiday, while orders for home-stay inns also grew by 114 percent compared with Labor Day.

The price of home-stay inns per customer transaction during this year's 'Golden Week' climbed about 33 percent from last year, while that for hotels also rose 25.7 percent annually, statistics on tour site Mafengwo indicate.

Other forms of leisure consumption also recuperated during the eight-day holiday. Movie ticket sales grew over 260-fold on Meituan's app compared with the Labor Day holiday, while those for other performances also grew seven-fold. Meituan's dining-in food orders also skyrocketed 78.4 percent compared to Labor Day during the National Day holiday, which celebrates the 1949 founding of the People's Republic of China.

Editor: Ben Armour