China tourism spending rises during Qingming holiday

China tourism picked up during the Qingming Festival holiday, giving officials a fresh sign that domestic travel is holding up as Beijing rolls out new measures to attract more overseas visitors and support consumer spending. Official figures released on April 7 showed travelers made 135 million domestic trips during the April 4 to April 6 break, while tourism spending reached 61.367 billion yuan.

The three-day Qingming holiday, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, is a major spring travel period in China. Domestic trips were up 6.8 percent from a year earlier and travel spending rose 6.6 percent, according to government estimates. Average spending per trip slipped slightly, however, suggesting that rising passenger volumes are not yet translating into materially stronger spending per traveler.

The new figures arrive as Beijing intensifies its tourism push. On March 20, nine government departments unveiled measures aimed at lifting inbound consumption, including plans to expand visa-free entry to more countries, improve visa-free transit rules, add more departure tax refund stores and make payment services easier for foreign visitors. The package also called for more internationally oriented sports events and pilot medical tourism hubs in selected regions.

China has already widened access in recent months. British and Canadian passport holders were added to the 30-day visa-free entry program from February 17, and official immigration guidance now shows 50 countries are covered by the unilateral exemption policy. That has added to a broader easing of travel rules designed to support tourism, shopping and business travel.

Officials say the strategy is beginning to show results. China recorded 154.5 million inbound visits in 2025, up 17.1 percent from a year earlier, while inbound visitor spending rose 39.2 percent to 131.1 billion U.S. dollars, according to official statistics. More than 30 million trips by foreigners were made under visa-free policies last year.

For airlines, hotels, attractions and retailers, the Qingming data underscores the scale of China's domestic tourism base and the importance of its easier-entry policies. It also points to the next challenge for 2026: turning strong traffic into higher-value spending, longer stays and broader gains across the travel sector.