China's massive annual migration as New An Lunar An approaches will culminate with billions of trips scheduled during this year's holidays, which start on Tuesday.
It is estimated that 9 billion trips are expected. The holidays of this year last from January 28 to February 4 and mark the arrival of the year of the serpent. The Chinese authorities have extended the annual leave by an additional day, so that the holiday will last eight days this year.
During the holidays, trips should resume at the national and international level. The government said it expects the number of train trips to exceed 510 million, with 90 million more per plane. Inside the country, most will travel by car.
For trips abroad, trips to Southeast Asia have increased, with volumes of tickets to Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia increasing by more than 50 %, according to data from the World Travel Council and tourism. In addition, the demand for travel to Hong Kong has almost doubled and Japan experiences a 58 % increase in plane ticket purchases.
Even if the lunar new year is known as a festive period characterized by colorful lanterns, parades and lion dances, it has much more than a simple cultural meaning for the Chinese authorities who see this period as an opportunity to relaunch a Swiss economy.
This is one of the main reasons why the authorities have increased eight -day leave. They also launched several efforts to help relaunch the weakness of consumer spending, such as promoting vacation destinations on the theme of winter and the guarantee of affordable air rates, according to officials at a press conference Council of State Affairs in Beijing.
Despite these efforts, Reuters reported that companies and consumers seemed to spend less than usual during the holiday season, invoking concerns about a prolonged real estate crisis and concerns about employment safety.
Throughout the past year, China has implemented a series of measures aimed at responding to these concerns, in particular revival measures such as reduction in interest rates, increased pensions and enlargement Consumer goods exchange programs.
An industry that seems to have benefited from the festival season is cinema.
The Chinese film industry has experienced difficulties recently, with a 22.6 % drop in total box office revenues in 2024. However, according to Maoyan data, a Chinese Ticketing Platform, cinema tickets exceeded 55 Millions of dollars on January 23, the fastest presale for cinema. Lunar New Year season.
A large part of this increased request comes from the film legends of the heroes of the Condor, featuring Xiao Zhan, an actor and singer who is also ambassador for luxury products of luxury products such as Gucci and Tod's.
Stores and restaurants also hope to see an increase in their expenses, like that of the film industry during the holidays.
Some information contained in this report comes from Reuters and the Associated Press.
