China Tourism Sector Posts Patchy Recovery as Rebound Peters Out

A surge of trips from pent-up post-pandemic demand has waned as tourists pare back their budgets and seek out more affordable options

China’s tourism industry has been showing mixed signs of recovery following a long bleak winter, as the so-called “revenge travel” rebound of the immediate post-pandemic period in 2023 was more short-lived than expected, with many domestic tourists opting to travel on a budget.

Domestic trips made during the eight-day Golden Week holiday in October, the typical year-end peak travel season in China, reached 826 million and recorded a modest 4.1% pickup from pre-pandemic levels during the same holiday in 2019, but much slower than the 19% recorded during the Labor Day holiday in May, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.