(Yicai) Feb. 26 -- Guangdong, the Chinese province with the biggest economy, ranked first in the country in terms of both tourist numbers and tourism revenue during the nine-day Chinese New Year holiday that ended on Feb. 23, according to data released so far by 26 provincial-level regions.

Guangdong logged 86 million visits and generated nearly CNY85 billion (USD12.4 billion) in tourism income over the break, setting new records.

Nationwide, some 596 million domestic trips were made during the holiday, a jump of 18.9 percent from the eight-day Chinese New Year break in 2025, while total domestic tourism spending surged 18.6 percent to CNY803.4 billion (USD117.5 billion).

Six provinces recorded more than 50 million tourist visits. Guangdong topped the list with 86.5 million visits, followed closely by eastern Jiangsu province with 75.8 million, central Henan province with 62.8 million, northern Hubei province with 60.08 million, southwestern Sichuan province with 58.6 million and central Hunan province with 58.4 million visits.

In terms of tourism revenue, Guangdong, southeastern Zhejiang province and Jiangsu took the top three places, bringing in CNY84.8 billion (USD12.4 billion), CNY67.9 billion and CNY60.9 billion, respectively.

Compared to last year, southern provinces were back in the lead in terms of visitor and revenue growth. Southern China is normally a popular holiday destination during the winter months and the Chinese New Year holiday. But last year, northern attractions such as winter sports and ancient architecture tours in Shanxi province were hugely popular. That year, the growth rates of both visitor numbers and tourism revenue in northern provinces outpaced those in southern ones.

The four provinces with the fastest growth in tourism numbers over the nine-day break all saw increases of more than 20 percent. Southern Hainan province posted growth of 28.9 percent, northeastern Jilin province logged growth of 26.9 percent, southeastern Fujian province reported growth of 25.8 percent and Zhejiang saw growth of 24.7 percent.

In terms of tourism revenue, seven provinces posted increases of over 20 percent, five of which are in the south of the country. Hunan, southern Hainan province, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jilin, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Shanghai logged growth rates of 33.8 percent, 30.7 percent, 28.9 percent, 26.5 percent, 24.9 percent, 21.8 percent and 20.9 percent respectively.

In most provinces, tourism revenue grew faster than visitor numbers this year, meaning that spending per person increased.

Beijing had the highest per-capita tourism spending during the Spring Festival break. The capital welcomed 19.8 million visitors and generated CNY33.1 billion (USD4.8 billion) in tourism revenue. This works out at an average of CNY1,670 (USD244) per visitor, a gain of 2.5 percent from the year before.

Editor: Kim Taylor