Sign up for Next China, a weekly email about the future and present of the nation.
Hotel costs have soared, travel apps have plummeted, tickets to the Great Wall have run out: after more than nine long months confined to the home, nearly a billion Chinese are taking vacations.
With the Covid-19 pandemic largely in China, the Golden Week holiday shows the country’s confidence in its economic recovery and public conditioning measures. In the first 4 days of the holiday week that began on October 1, some 425 million local trips were made, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, almost 80% of last year’s level.
Increased activity is in contrast to the rest of the world (the global tourism industry is expected to lose at least $1. 2 trillion by 2020) and underscores the relative strength of China’s economic recovery. In September, the OECD forecast an expansion of 1. 8 trillion% this year, placing China among the Group of 20 on the path to growth.
This positive outlook assumes that the country can avoid some other wave of coronavirus and competitive blockages used across China to cancel it. While millions of others tour the country on the holiday that marked the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, there are no viruses. Tests or quarantine are required, dangers increase. Late last month, China opened its borders to foreign nationals with valid apartment permits.
“There is certainly a threat in allowing mass tourism to resume and, in some tactics, this is an early exercise in what the rest of the world will have to go through with the restart of the global year. Next up,” said Nicholas Thomas, associate professor of physical security at the City University of Hong Kong.
China has not reported local viral infections since August 15, discovered two asymptomatic cases last September, and the government has overcome almost all of its peak travel restrictions in Covid. The ban on visits by organizations was lifted in mid-July. all districts in each city were designated as “low risk” and coronavirus control effects are no longer required to travel between provinces.
Shoppers check out the gift shop in Beijing on October 4.
Photograph: Yan Cong / Bloomberg
“We’ve spent at least six weeks reporting a nationally displayed bachelor case, which means the environment available to others is virus-free,” said Wu Zunyou, a leading epidemiologist at China’s Control and Control Center. prevention, at a briefing in Beijing last week. “The threat of encountering an asymptomatic user is very, very low, almost insignificant. “
In a McKinsey survey
Other countries are more reluctant to approve a 2019-style return to vacation. South Korea, for example, which has noticed that new instances hover around 100 per day each day, has tightened social esture regulations for two consecutive weeks. since the end of September. European cities and countries are imposing new restrictions to combat a new wave of pandemics caused by summer travel.
In China, tourists seem confident. ” I’m not worried about the virus,” said Zora Li, 35, who plans to fly from Beijing to Guangxi Province in southern China with his two children and parents, his first vacation in 2020. a choice. Please note that children can only travel on holiday. »
She wasn’t the only one in a position to replace the stage. Holiday flight bookings have accumulated by 11% compared to 2019, according to a report by research and knowledge firm Cirium. late August and costs soared: as of September 10, the average hotel reservation was approximately 20% higher this year than last year, according to knowledge published through booking site Qunar. com Inc.
The Didi and Dida apps crashed when the Christmas season began on September 30, according to local news firm Xinhua. Approximately 11. 7 million passengers traveled through the fiscal year on October 3, just 15% less than in 2019.
Tickets for the Badaling segment of the Great Wall sold out mid-morning on October 3, the first time tickets sold out since the end of March. the beginning of the holiday.
Other Chinese destinations have noticed an influx of domestic tourists who would otherwise have spent the week abroad. Although abroad is not explicitly prohibited, lack of flights and costly quarantines and testing needs for re-entry have discouraged most people. Xinjiang and Ningxia were among the regions where the highest spending was the fastest on October 1 and 2, according to China Unionpay’s knowledge published in Xinhua. .
Beach holidays for some in China, tightening their belts for others
The implementation of pandemic-hampered economies has been complicated: in the United States, Japan, and almost everywhere, the preference to reopen the economy, or the reluctance to close it, has led to new waves of infection, worse than the first.
Since the coronavirus gave the impression in the city of Wuhan in central China defeated last year, the government has used its out-of-control authority to block cities, request evidence and track the movements of inflamed people. Qingdao, a coastal city, discovered two cases of asymptomatic coronavirus, the first in five weeks without local transmission. Some imports of frozen shellfish after the discovery of the virus in some samples were also banned.
“We will only know the good luck of China 2-3 weeks after the holidays, because we will see how many new infections emerge,” Thomas said. “If they can avoid an increase in cases, it will be proof that China is entering a post-Covid period. “
Travelers dressed in a protective mask push their luggage out of Beijing International Airport on September 30.
Photograph: Yan Cong / Bloomberg
Covid’s ghost and fragile recovery continue to wreak havoc. Even travelers may not be in a position to hold a Golden Week party. During the first 4 days of the holiday, tourism revenues amounted to 312 billion yuan, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 31% less compared to the same time last year.
And many other people still stay home. Shirley Zhang, a 29-year-old auditor in Shenzhen, canceled her plans this year and added a long vacation to Japan.
“This year is so difficult for everyone,” he says. “Some of my friends have lost their jobs lately. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have to save money for long-term uncertainties.
– With john Liu, Claire Che, Daniela Wei, Dingmin Zhang, Jinshan Hong, Miao Han, Lin Zhu and Dong Lyu