133 million tourists travel across China during New Year holiday

Tourists flood a subway platform in Hangzhou on December 31, 2017. [Photo: www.vcg.com]

133 million tourists traveled around China during the country’s three-day New Year's Day holiday, an increase of 11.08% year on year, according to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

The tourism authority also says the tourists generated 75.5 billion yuan (about 11.6 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism revenue, a year-on-year uptick of 11.22%. 

CNTA notes trips to rural areas as well as snow and ice-related travels were popular among tourists.

The booming tourism was accompanied by busy traffic. On Sunday, 8.732 million passengers traveled by train, 17.3 percent higher year on year, according to China Railway Corporation (CRC). CRC had to add 261 temporary trains on Monday to meet the demand.

China's domestic tourism industry generated 3.9 trillion yuan in 2016. The Chinese government plans to raise this figure to 7 trillion yuan, accounting for around 12% of China's GDP growth, by 2020.