A tourist takes photos of plum blossoms at Gulin park in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Feb. 12, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

The China Tourism Academy (CTA) has forecast that the volume of China's domestic travel may surpass 4.55 billion person times in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 73 percent and back to 76 percent of the level in 2019, indicating fast recovery in the sector after the nation downgraded its COVID-19 response measures, Chinese media outlet thepaper.cn reported on Monday.

During the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which lasted from early January to the middle of February 2023, a total of 4.73 billion passenger trips were made in China, underscoring the resilience and vitality of the economy.

The income of the domestic travel sector is expected to reach about 4 trillion yuan in 2023, up by 89 percent year-on-year and back to 71 percent of the level in 2019. The CTA said China's tourism might fully recover during the summer of 2023 after a steady start to the year.

In the outbound tourism sector, the CTA predicted that the annual passenger volume may surpass 90 million in 2023, a twofold increase year-on-year and back to 31.5 percent of the pre-pandemic level.

China resumed group tour services to 20 countries and regions in a pilot program starting from February 6, and the Chinese tourism industry is preparing for a travel peak. 

According to a statement sent from Chinese online travel agency Trip.com to the Global Times on February 7, the agency launched nearly 12,000 outbound group tour products covering 16 countries and regions in order to embrace the huge opportunities in the market. 

In addition, the EU announced on Friday it would lift the restrictions on travelers from China. It comes after senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi visited Europe. The move will further release the consumption potential of Chinese travelers, which will benefit the global economy. 

Multiple industry observers noted that Chinese outbound tours may see a larger rebound around the May Day holidays.

Global Times