China’s tourism revenue exceeds 12 billion yuan during Dragon Boat Festival holiday

By Wang Ke, People’s Daily

China received about 48.81 million domestic tourists during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday which concluded on June 27, reaping 12.28 billion yuan in revenue, said the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The country’s tourism market remained generally stable and well-organized during the past holiday, the ministry added.

During the holiday, the ministry capped visitors to tourist spots at 30% of capacity, and guided and supported tourist spots to implement reservation mechanism and enable more detailed flow management, so as to avoid over capacity and mass gatherings. Reservation has become mandatory for visits, and is universally accepted by tourists.

While instructing local authorities to maintain regular epidemic prevention and control, the ministry held diverse promotional activities and launched themed tour routes centering on the Yellow River, the “red tourism” which features visits to the sites with significance of revolutionary history, and camping.

Measures were also rolled out by the ministry to meet diversified travel demand of the tourists during the holiday.

The three-day vacation was highlighted by red tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, cultural heritage tourism, and B&B. Besides, road trips, parent-child trips, family trips, and nighttime tourism activities became new growth points.

The ministry also stepped up efforts to promote tourism etiquette. It instructed tourist spots to introduce relevant sign boards at visitor centers, ticket offices, entrances, and main roads, as well as guides and volunteer stations to promote tourism etiquette. Besides, tourism etiquette tips and announcements were also provided along tour routes and at major sightseeing spots.

Guiding visitors to use serving chopsticks and spoons and say no to game meat, the ministry fostered a new vision of healthy and green dining.

By advocating safe and civilized travel, the ministry also raised public awareness of epidemic prevention and reservation-based tourism. As a result, civilized, healthy and green tourism is gradually becoming a new trend in China.

Children compete in a cardboard “dragon boat race” at a kindergarten in Tengzhou, east China’s Shandong province, June 24. Photo by Song Haicun/People’s Daily Online