Chinese travel more during Dragon Boat holiday but spending lags

Chinese people travelled more over the three-day Dragon Boat holiday this year, but spending remained below pre-pandemic levels, government data showed on Tuesday - indicators that are closely watched as barometers of consumer confidence.

Consumption in the world's second-largest economy has suffered amid sputtering growth and a prolonged property crisis, with uncertainty from the US-China trade war also weighing on consumer confidence.

The latest data painted a mixed picture for China's consumer economy. Tourists took an estimated 119 million domestic journeys from Friday to Monday, up 5.7 percent from the same holiday period last year, according to the Ministry for Tourism and Culture.

Overall spending over the period rose to 42.73 billion yuan ($5.94 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.9 percent, but the average amount spent per traveller was a little under 360 yuan ($50), according to Reuters calculations, remaining stubbornly below 2019 levels of around 410 yuan per trip.

The annual festival took place from May 31 to June 2 this year and is celebrated throughout the country with local dragon boat races. Many people take the opportunity to have short holidays, crowding train stations and airports around the country.

Overall, more than 653.7 million inter-regional trips across all regions in China, which include tourist trips, were made during the three-day holiday, up 2.5 percent year-on-year, state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday, and road travel was up 2.4 percent from last year with 597.3 million trips recorded.

Cross-border journeys rose 2.7 percent to 5.9 million, with 231,000 foreign nationals entering the country visa-free during the holiday.

China has been expanding its visa policy, with citizens of 43 countries granted visa-free access, while visa-free transit for up to 240 hours in China is available for 54 countries.

Chinese also boosted spending on entertainment over the holiday, with cinema box office revenue reaching 460 million yuan ($63.9 million), surpassing last year’s 384 million yuan, according to data from online ticketing platform Maoyan.

Tom Cruise’s latest movie "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" topped charts, and generated 228 million yuan, half of the total revenue during the holiday period, which was seen as a positive indicator for the upcoming summer season.