Consumers traveled and spent more during the holiday but they are waiting to see if promised stimulus measures boost the economy.

China's Golden Week holiday affirmed a trend in more cautious spending, while consumers put greater emphasis on experiences.

While travellers made 10.2 per cent more trips this year than in 2019, spending rose only by 7.9 per cent. Read more at straitstimes.com.

A total of 765 million domestic trips were made across China during the weeklong National Day holidays, up 5.9 percent year-on-year, and up 10.2 percent compared with the same holiday in 2019, according to data released by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) on Tuesday.

More than 13 million journeys were made across mainland China’s borders during the recent “golden week” holiday, almost reaching pre-pandemic levels, according to the country’s immigration authorities.

Chinese tourists shelled out less money during their long holiday that ended Monday than before the pandemic, even as signs emerged that spending is stabilizing after a barrage of stimulus recently unveiled by the government.

During the 2024 National Day Golden Week, Alipay recorded a significant increase in both China’s outbound and inbound tourism spending.

Chinese travellers and tourists spent 700.82 billion yuan during the just-ended holiday week – a 7.9 per cent increase from the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.

Tencent Holdings' WeChat Pay, one of China's dominant digital payment platforms, saw a jump in transactions during the "golden week" national holiday, as consumer spending shows signs of recovery after Beijing rolled out its biggest stimulus package since the pandemic.

During China's week-long National Day holiday, the number of domestic trips and overall travel spending surpassed last year's figures, but per capita expenditure fell short of pre-pandemic levels, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.