Chongqing – Under strict covid prevention measures, the city of Chongqing received 1.396 million overnight tourists during the seven-day National Day holiday from Oct 1-7, according to the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development. The Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce announced that the retail sales of central business districts and key monitored commercial and trade enterprises increased by 4.8% year-on-year.
A picture of Jiefangbei. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
According to China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, nearly 422 million domestic trips were made in China during the week-long holiday, a year-on-year decrease of 18.2%. And the domestic tourism revenue generated during the holiday totaled 287.2 billion yuan ($40.45 billion), a year-on-year reduction of 26.2% and a recovery to 44.2% in the same period in 2019.
For this year's National Day, Chongqing encourages residents to "stay put during the holiday." Tourists favor local, surrounding, and short-distance tours during the holiday. And in the country, suburban parks, the countryside surrounding cities, and city parks were the three most popular tourist destinations during the holiday, respectively attracting 23.8 %, 22.6 %, and 16.8 % of all domestic tourists according to the statistics.
People chose the campsite in the surrounding area of Chongqing. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
The cities that enjoy the most popular local holiday tours are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Changsha, Suzhou, Hefei, Wuhan, Ningbo, Xi'an, Jinan, and other cities.
On Oct 7, Ctrip released the "2022 National Day Holiday Tourism Summary Report", which shows that Chongqing's local and surrounding tourism orders accounted for 65%, and the per capita tourism spending in the local surrounding area increased by nearly 30% compared with last year.
Tourists enjoy their holiday in the Meixin Wine Town in the Fuling district of Chongqing. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
The Meixin Wine Town, a scenic spot in the city's Fuling district, has opened a night tour, where visitors can visit the wetland park, enjoy a canal cruise, and taste grilled fish and wine at night. As surrounding tours boost, many sports activities tours, cycling, hiking, boating, and skiing, have been trendy among young people to spend the holiday.
As of Oct 7, the city's major theaters and new spaces for performing arts had presented 210 shows, such as dance, drama, acrobatics, opera, and other artistic performances, attracting 38,427 audiences. For instance, "Magic City · Extreme Happiness Show" in Chongqing International Circus City and "Chongqing 1949" in Chongqing 1949 Grand Theater were performed more than twice a day.
The performance of Chongqing · 1949. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
In addition, tourists also flocked to locations with a connection to China's revolutionary history and chose patriotic-themed tours. The city's museums launched abundant and colorful exhibition activities to highlight patriotic themes, providing 54 special exhibitions and 52 educational activities, receiving 558,000 visitors during the seven days.
The Hongyan stories are shared in the Chongqing Hongyan Revolutionary History Museum during the National Day Holiday. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
(Chen Lu, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)