The Chinese are discovering the joys of domestic tourism this year, choosing to explore small towns and local foodie experiences over long-haul holidays. Olivia Palamountain reports

Chinese tourists are expected to spend a record 6.79 trillion yuan (US$938 billion) on domestic holidays this year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time, according to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council and Oxford Economics.

The forecast represents an 11% increase compared to 2019 spending, before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global travel patterns.

The domestic tourism boom is characterised by travellers flocking to cities for popular local delicacies such as spicy street foods and smaller towns in a “reverse travel” trend, says Business Standard.

This surge in holidays at home is filling the gap left by the slower recovery of international travel to and from China.

The WTTC reports that employment in Travel & Tourism is expected to represent 10.6% of all jobs in the country this year, although just 2% behind 2019 levels.

Yet despite this growth in GDP contribution and with job numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels, international visitor spending in 2024 is expected to remain more than 25% behind the 2019 figures .

To bring this to life, airlines allocated about 1.6 million seats on overseas flights from the mainland for October 1 until October 7, which is about 20% below pre-pandemic levels (Bloomberg).

In an effort to boost both inbound tourism and investment, China has recently eased visa restrictions for visitors from several countries, including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and some European nations.

Julia Simpson, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council, says: “While China’s Travel & Tourism sector has shown signs of resilience, with a strong recovery in both its economic contribution and domestic travel spend, the much later reopening has meant international travel spend is off the pace.

“The new, more simplified visa application process is certainly a step in the right direction and should see more visitors from overseas this year and next.”