China National Tourism Administration data show that 4.44 billion domestic trips were made in China in 2016, equivalent to three trips on average per person in China’s population. The total tourism receipt from domestic travel totaled RMB 3.9 trillion in 2016.
In the first half of 2017, the growth of outbound tourism had slowed down and an increasing number of Chinese tourists traveled domestically. Unlike some years ago, domestic travel has progressed from moving from one destination to the next on coaches to pursuing quality and immersive experience.
As well, domestic tourism has become the best quick getaways as transportation has been improved with high-speed railways, flights and other traffic systems, travel products and services have been innovated and upgraded, and the consumption mindsets of the post-80s and post-90s generations have changed.
Domestic tourism more popular than outbound tourism
The“China Domestic Travelers Report in H1 2017” released recently by Ctrip suggests that the number of domestic tourists for the first half of 2017 is expected to exceed 2.4 billion, nearly 40 times that of outbound tourist traffic (62.03 million) in the period. The growth rate of domestic travel in H1 2017 was above 10%, twice as high as the growth rate of outbound traffic, at 5%.
Based on the tourism statistics released by various provinces and cities as of August 15, Sichuan province received the highest number of domestic tourists.
In the first half of 2017, most provinces registered 10% or higher in growth both in tourist number and tourism income, the highest was 36.6%. Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet and Shanxi saw the biggest rise in tourist number. In addition, the growth rates of tourism revenue in most provinces and cities are higher than those of tourist number, indicating that the consumption of domestic travelers has increased visibly.
