China Tourism Academy: Annual Report on China’s Domestic Tourism Development (2022-2023)

Figure 1: Domestic tourism market size from 2011 to 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic remains the main factor causing fluctuations in domestic tourism market demand. From the four quarters of 2021, domestic tourism growth showed the characteristics of "obvious fluctuations" and "first urgent and then slow". In the first quarter of 2021, the number of domestic tourists reached 1.024 billion, accounting for 31.5% of the total number of tourists for the whole year, while in the fourth quarter, the number of domestic tourists was 557 million, accounting for only 17.2% of the whole year.

2. Domestic tourism revenue exceeds half of pre-epidemic level

In 2021, domestic tourism revenue was 2.92 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.69 trillion yuan from 2020, a growth of 31.0% (recovering to 51.0% in 2019). Among them, urban residents' tourism consumption was 2.36 trillion yuan, an increase of 31.6%; rural residents' tourism consumption was 0.55 trillion yuan, an increase of 28.4%.

3. Domestic tourism per capita consumption is close to pre-epidemic levels

In 2021, the average domestic tourist expenditure per person was 899.28 yuan, an increase of 125.14 yuan, or 16.2%, from 2020, and close to the pre-epidemic level of 953.23 yuan in 2019. Among them, the average urban resident expenditure per person was 1,009.57 yuan, an increase of 16.0% from 2020; the average rural resident expenditure per person was 613.56 yuan, an increase of 15.7% from 2020.

2. Current Status and Prospects of Domestic Tourism Development

1. The domestic tourism economic prosperity index has declined

According to the research of the Tourism Economic Operation Research Group of the China Tourism Academy, the comprehensive tourism economic operation index (CTA-TEP) in the first three quarters of 2022 was 95.6, 97.8, and 85.6, respectively, a month-on-month decrease of 3.3, an increase of 2.2, and a decrease of 12.2, respectively, and was generally below the prosperity line (100).

2. The domestic tourism market has shrunk slightly

According to the domestic tourism sampling survey, the number of domestic tourists in the first three quarters of 2022 was 2.094 billion, a decrease of 595 million from the same period in 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 22.1%. In the first three quarters of 2022, domestic tourism revenue (total domestic tourism consumption) was 1.72 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.65 trillion yuan from the same period in 2021, a year-on-year decrease of 27.2%.

According to the China Tourism Academy, the number of domestic tourists is expected to reach 685 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, with domestic tourism revenue of 630 billion yuan.

Figure 2 Domestic tourist arrivals and revenue by quarter in 2022

3. Holiday tourism market is stable and orderly

The number of domestic tourists and tourism revenue during New Year's Day, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, May Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day and other holidays in 2022 will decrease to a certain extent compared with 2021. The cultural and tourism departments of various regions strictly implement the normalized epidemic prevention requirements, guide tourists to travel rationally, safely and civilized, and ensure the smooth and orderly operation of the holiday tourism market. Holiday tourism throughout the year shows a trend of stable opening, low trend and slow rise.

Figure 3 Holiday tourist numbers and tourism revenue in 2021-2022

4. Local travel and surrounding travel have become important forms

Affected by the multiple outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic and the large-scale outbreak in some local areas, the travel distance and destination recreation radius of domestic tourism in 2022 have shrunk significantly, and short-distance tourism and local leisure have become the spatial characteristics of domestic tourism. Domestic tourism presents new characteristics such as short time, close distance, and high frequency, and "light tourism", "micro vacation", and "staycation" have become new highlights.

Figure 4 Holiday travel and destination recreation radius in 2022

5. New tourism products and formats are gaining popularity

Driven by the 2022 Winter Olympics, outdoor sports represented by the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Sports and Cultural Tourism Belt are active, and skiing, camping, mountaineering, hiking, horseback riding, grass skiing, rafting and other activities have become new ways for people to get close to nature. In the summer of 2022, many parts of China will experience high temperatures, and tourism products such as waterfront leisure, ecological health care, rural pastoral, urban leisure, and summer travel are popular among tourists.

III. Characteristics of the domestic tourist source market

1. The urban and rural tourist source markets present a dual structure

From the perspective of urban and rural division, urban residents are still the main source market for domestic tourism in my country. In 2021, urban tourists made 2.342 billion domestic trips, accounting for 72.15%; rural tourists made 904 million domestic trips, accounting for 27.85%. Against the backdrop of the continuous increase in the domestic tourism rate of urban residents and the steady advancement of urbanization, it is expected that the characteristics of urban tourists occupying the main body of the domestic tourism source market will continue for a long time.

2. The eastern region accounts for more than half of the country’s total source market

Taking into account factors such as the number of trips and length of stay of domestic tourists, the eastern region accounted for 51.44% of the domestic tourism source market in 2021, the western region accounted for 24.47%, the central region accounted for 21.57%, and the northeastern region accounted for only 2.52%. The eastern region accounts for more than half of the domestic tourism source market, and is the main source of domestic tourism and the key target area for tourism marketing.

By province, in 2021, Zhejiang, Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hunan and other provinces and cities will have the largest domestic tourism source market size, and Shanghai, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Beijing, Jiangsu and other provinces and cities will have the highest domestic tourism travel rates.

Figure 5: Domestic tourist source market size and domestic travel rate index in 2021

3. Middle-aged and elderly tourists become an important source of tourists

In 2021, middle-aged and elderly tourists aged 45 and above traveled a total of 1.194 billion times, accounting for 36.81% of the domestic tourism source market, becoming an important source of domestic tourism. At the same time, the number of young tourists aged 14 and below has increased rapidly, and "the old and the young" have become the highlights and focus of domestic tourism. Elderly tourism, health tourism, and study tours have broad prospects.

Figure 6 Age distribution of domestic tourists in 2021

4. Domestic tourists tend to be highly educated

Domestic tourists in my country are showing a trend of becoming more educated. In 2021, domestic tourists with college, undergraduate, postgraduate and above education accounted for 42.27%. If only urban domestic tourists are considered, the proportion of highly educated tourists is as high as 50.49%.

IV. Market Characteristics of Domestic Tourism Destination

1. The income of tourism destinations in the eastern region accounts for nearly 40% of the national total

In 2021, there were significant differences in domestic tourism revenues among regions across the country. Among them, domestic tourism revenues in the eastern region were 5734.468 billion yuan, accounting for 38.55% of the national total revenue. Domestic tourism revenues in the central and western regions were 3880.671 billion yuan and 4444.064 billion yuan, respectively, accounting for 26.09% and 29.87% of the national total revenue, respectively. The region with the least domestic tourism revenue was the Northeast, which was 817.291 billion yuan, accounting for only 5.49% of the national total revenue.

2. The number of tourists received in the western region is gradually approaching that in the eastern region

In 2021, the gap between the number of domestic tourists received by the eastern and western regions was relatively small, at 3.986 billion and 3.944 billion respectively. The number of domestic tourists received by the central region was 3.759 billion. The number of domestic tourists received by the northeast region was the smallest, at only 712 million. The northeast region was severely affected by the epidemic and has recovered slowly in the past two years, and there is a risk that the gap with the other three major tourist destinations will widen further.

3. The per capita tourism consumption in the eastern region is far ahead

In 2021, there are still large differences in domestic tourism per capita consumption in various regions. Among them, the eastern region has the highest per capita domestic tourism consumption, reaching 1,438.81 yuan. The northeastern and western regions are followed, with per capita domestic tourism consumption of 1,148.44 yuan and 1,126.71 yuan respectively. The lowest per capita domestic tourism consumption is in the central region, which is 1,032.23 yuan.

V. Characteristics of domestic tourism flows

1. Intra-provincial tourist traffic accounts for 80% of domestic tourist traffic

According to a survey by the China Tourism Academy, domestic tourist traffic showed significant localization and short-distance characteristics in 2022. Short-distance intra-province tourist traffic accounted for 81.24% of all domestic tourist traffic, while long-distance inter-province tourist traffic accounted for only 18.76%.

2. Inter-provincial tourist traffic is concentrated between adjacent provinces

Inter-provincial tourism flows show the characteristics of neighboring provinces being each other's source and destination. Among the top 100 inter-provincial tourism flows in 2022 (Figure 7), 81 tourism flows are between neighboring provinces, and only 19 tourism flows are between non-neighboring provinces. 

Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the top 100 inter-provincial tourist flows in China in 2022

3. Intra-provincial tourist traffic is concentrated in provinces with large populations

In 2022, the top 10 provinces in terms of domestic tourist passenger flow in the country are ranked from largest to smallest: Hebei Province, Jiangsu Province, Anhui Province, Shandong Province, Henan Province, Hubei Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sichuan Province, and Shaanxi Province.

4. Top 10 inter-provincial tourist source areas in China

In 2022, based on the outflow of inter-provincial tourist passenger flows, the top 10 inter-provincial tourist source areas in the country are ranked from large to small as Henan Province, Guangdong Province, Shandong Province, Hebei Province, Sichuan Province, Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, Anhui Province, Guizhou Province, and Jiangxi Province.

5. Top 10 inter-provincial tourist destinations in China

In 2022, based on the inflow of inter-provincial tourist passenger flows, the top 10 inter-provincial tourist destinations in the country are ranked from large to small: Jiangsu Province, Guangdong Province, Hebei Province, Zhejiang Province, Sichuan Province, Anhui Province, Hunan Province, Shandong Province, Henan Province, and Hubei Province.

Source: China Tourism Academy