(Economic Observation) Spring Break Meets Qingming, China's Holiday Economy Shows Vitality

China News Service, Beijing, April 7 — ( Reporter Liu Wenwen ) Multiple regions’ primary and secondary schools “piece together” their spring holiday and the Qingming holiday, forming a 6-day “mini holiday,” which has sparked a holiday consumption boom spanning transportation, tourism, catering, retail, and more, injecting vitality into China’s overall consumption.

Travel during the holiday period sees a strong surge first, with the scale of people moving reaching a new high. Data from the Ministry of Transport shows that during this year’s Qingming holiday, the total cross-regional movement of people across the country is expected to exceed 845 million person-trips, averaging about 282 million person-trips per day, up 6% compared with the Qingming holiday in 2025.

On April 6, residents purchase souvenirs at the Yuyuantan Park cherry blossom store in Beijing. Photo by China News Service reporter Yi Haifei

In previous years’ Qingming holidays, tourists mostly chose short trips; this year, after the spring break is followed by consecutive rest with the Qingming holiday, tourists go farther and stay longer. Monitoring data from the China Tourism Academy shows that middle-distance travel over 500 kilometers and long-distance travel over 800 kilometers have increased noticeably, with tourists’ travel radius and destination radius rising by more than 10 and more than 20 percentage points, respectively. Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that, for family trips with children, long-distance tour orders have doubled year over year, and the booking heat for flights on routes over 800 kilometers has risen by 80% month over month.

Family consumption has become the core main line of this mini holiday, driving consumption across the whole industry chain, including accommodation, transportation, catering, cultural and creative products, and educational travel. Data from Qunar shows that from April 1 to 6, the increase in the number of passengers aged 13 to 18 on flights reached 70%; among the group that purchases their “first-ever flight ticket” on the platform, children under 12 increased by 73%, and Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Nanjing have become the most popular destinations for people’s “first flight” nationwide.

Localities are enhancing public-benefit benefits with additional measures, further boosting families’ enthusiasm for traveling. For example, Nanjing has built a dedicated service platform for “Young Jinling Travel,” releasing 16 boutique parent-child educational travel routes; scenic spots such as Huangshan Scenic Area, Wolong Chinese Panda Garden, and Qingcheng Mountain have successively rolled out ticket-discount offers for primary and secondary school students. When policy dividends stack up with travel demand, regional culture and tourism consumption grows stronger. Taking Jiangsu as an example, data from Fliggy shows that tourism bookings across the province increased by nearly 40% year over year.

As the data climbs, the upgrading of consumption content is also an indicator with a strong sense of direction. Traditional Qingming outings mainly focus on sightseeing activities such as flower viewing, mountain climbing, and strolling in parks; this year, immersive, cultural, and experiential consumption has become the mainstream new trend.

According to monitoring from the Ministry of Commerce’s business big data, during the Qingming holiday, nationwide theme park consumption increased by 11.7% year over year; parent-child educational travel orders achieved a doubling year over year, and car rental and self-driving orders saw an increase of about 40%. More and more consumers are willing to pay for high-quality immersive experiences, favoring personalized travel choices such as educational study tours, themed vacations, and independent self-driving trips.

This upgrade from “sightseeing” to “experience” is also confirmed in local data: during Qingming, Sichuan Province’s libraries, cultural centers, and museums cumulatively received 1.8367 million visitors, up 56.63% year over year. Cultural consumption is showing a strong growth momentum; people’s travel needs have shifted from “seeing sights casually” to “immersive cultural appreciation,” and consumers’ taste continues to advance.

Spring break coinciding with Qingming, and the mini holiday activates consumption momentum across the board. From rushing to nearby trips to wandering on longer routes, from check-in sightseeing to in-depth experiences, the robust development of the holiday economy not only vividly reflects China’s enormous market potential, but also injects momentum into consumption growth throughout the year. ( End )