People crowd the temple fair at the Confucius Temple area in downtown Nanjing during Spring Festival. (newsphoto)

Chinese tourists spent 31.3 billion yuan (US$3.8 billion) over the seven-day Spring Festival holiday period, up 8.1 per cent over the same period last year, the office for the nationwide tourism co-ordination said yesterday.

Total retail sales reached about 160 billion yuan (US$19.3 billion), up 16 per cent over last year, sources from the Ministry of Commerce said.

And more than 69 million journeys were made to tourist destinations, an increase of 9.1 per cent from last year, Wang Jun, executive director of the office for the nationwide tourism co-ordination, said yesterday.

The number of tourists visiting the country's capital amounted to more than 2 million, earning a tourism income of 1.83 billion yuan (US$220 million), an increase of 10 per cent year on year.

China's eastern metropolis of Shanghai received over 2.4 million tourists in the seven days and garnered over 1.7 billion yuan (US$200 million) in earnings from tourism, up 10.4 per cent from the same period last year, according to the local branch of the nationwide tourism co-ordination office.

Statistics from Wang's office indicate that, 128 monitored commercial enterprises in 31 major tourist cities achieved around 3 billion yuan (US$362 million) in sales, up 10.6 per cent over the same period last year.

Some 130 catering enterprises garnered over 210 million yuan (US$25 million), a year-on-year increase of 13.3 per cent.

To transport the tourists, railways and civil aviation played an important role.

Statistics from the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China show that around 2.3 million people travelled by air during the holiday.

And around 145 million journeys were made by train during the Spring Festival period, the Ministry of Railways estimated.

Data provided by Wang's office showed that air passenger transport garnered over 1.85 billion yuan (US$220 million) while rail passenger transport around 1.67 billion yuan (US$200 million) during the period.

Besides public transport, more and more people chose to travel in their own vehicles, Wang said.

The holiday economy is now seen as a means by the government to spur domestic consumption.

Shopping was a major activity during the holiday period. In Beijing alone, the sales income for commercial enterprises stood at 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million), according to the local tourism co-ordination office.

Rough statistics show more than 1.1 million people dined out in Beijing on the eve of the new year, something which cost them 80 million yuan (US$9.7 million).

The telecommunication sector was also the winner in the holiday economy as people sent messages on mobile phones to their families and friends.

(China Daily)

catering: providing food and services（公共飲食業）