This year’s Qingming holiday saw a significant increase in the city’s tourism revenue. Recently, data released by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development showed that during the Qingming holiday, the city received 2.53 million domestic tourists, including both local and non-local visitors, which was roughly on par with last year; total tourism revenue reached 1.14 billion yuan, an increase of 15.4% year-on-year.
By 9 a.m., the area in front of the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City was already bustling with visitors. “During the holiday, the number of out-of-town visitors to Beijing increased significantly compared to the same period last year. For example, the Palace Museum, which mainly receives out-of-town visitors, recorded a single-day attendance that exceeded the historical high for the same period, reaching 75,800 people,” said a relevant official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development. During the Qingming holiday, there were 670,000 out-of-town visitors to Beijing, an increase of 13.6% year-on-year; tourism consumption reached 820 million yuan, up 16.4% year-on-year.
Among the out-of-town visitors to Beijing, the proportion of tourists from medium- to long-distance regions such as the Northeast, Central China, Southwest, and Northwest all increased year-on-year. Over the three days, cumulative domestic inbound passenger traffic at civil aviation hubs rose 6% year-on-year, while cumulative railway passenger traffic into Beijing increased 15.7% year-on-year. A relevant official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development stated that the “ancestor worship and tomb sweeping” aspect of the Qingming Festival was quite pronounced. In addition, affected by the weather, citizens’ leisure activities such as visiting park-type scenic spots and natural landscapes in the suburbs were less active than during the same period last year. Specifically, the number of visitors to urban park-type scenic areas decreased by 6% year-on-year, while the number of visitors to natural landscape-type scenic areas dropped by 20% year-on-year.
At the same time, the city’s historical and cultural scenic spots and museum-type attractions saw a surge in visitor numbers, with attendance increasing by 11.1% and 14.7% year-on-year, respectively.
While out-of-town visitors were exploring Beijing, a large number of local residents also chose to step out of their homes during the holiday. Both the number of visitors and revenue from rural folk tourism in the city’s outer suburban districts and counties saw growth. During the Qingming holiday, rural folk tourism households received a total of 695,000 visitors, an increase of 5.8% year-on-year, with tourism revenue reaching 68.6 million yuan, up 14.8% year-on-year.
It is understood that during the holiday, the city deployed over 12,000 law enforcement personnel of various types. The city’s 12301 tourism service hotline received 170 calls, a 5% decrease compared to the same period last year. As of 4 p.m. yesterday, no major tourism accidents had been reported in the Beijing area.