Increasing people’s income crucial to China’s holiday economy

People climbing the Great Wall of China at Badaling, north of Beijing, on the first day of a five-day national May Day holiday. — AFP

AS expected, both the number of trips Chinese tourists made and the tourism revenue they generated during the five-day May Day holiday that ended last Sunday were higher than that of last year, as shown by data released by the Culture and Tourism Ministry. But the growth of their personal spending on average is not that obvious.

That means although the people have demonstrated a high desire to travel, their spending power has not yet recovered due to the impacts of the slow-to-recover job market and the weak growth in personal disposable income.