(Yicai) April 8 -- Chinese tourists spent CNY54 billion (USD7.5 billion) in the country during the Qingming Festival holiday, a 12.7 percent increase on a year earlier.

The ranks of domestic tourists rose 11.5 percent to 119 million over the three-day break compared with 2019, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism also said on April 6.

The Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day in English, is a traditional Chinese holiday for remembering and honoring the dead. It is also a key time for travel and consumption.

Trips in China over this year’s break exceeded 750 million, a 56 percent surge on last year and up 21 percent on 2019, with an estimated 690 million road trips made, according to transport ministry figures.

Rental car bookings soared 240 percent year on year, data from online travel agency Trip.Com showed. The number of self-drive trips jumped 61 percent, according to statistics from Tuniu.

Online travel platform Fliggy reported a 159 percent surge in hotel reservations, 164 percent jump in tour package bookings, and a double-digit rise in travel spending per head.

The cherry blossoms in Shanghai, rapeseed in Wuyuan and Hanzhong, and peonies in Luoyang made these cities popular destinations. Diner numbers at Haidilao International Holding’s restaurants in popular flower-viewing cities jumped 20 percent, the Chinese hotpot chain said.

Box office takings exceeded CNY823 million (USD110 million), a record-high for the Qingming Festival, according to data from the ticketing platform Maoyan. The number of moviegoers reached 20.6 million.

Editors: Martin Kadiev