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Per
capita spending during the April 4-6 holiday, when the Chinese
traditionally honor their ancestors by visiting tombs usually
located in their home towns, was 435 yuan ($60.14), or about
101.1% of the spending recorded during the holiday five years
ago, according to Sinolink Securities.
Chinese spent more per capita during that long weekend than any
other holiday period since China lifted COVID-19 restrictions in
late 2022, analysts said.
"The recovery of per capita spending is better than
expectations," the brokerage said in a research note on Sunday,
adding that average tourism spending during the 2024 New Year
holiday and Spring Festival in February are respectively 96.5%
and 90.5% of 2019 levels.
Other analysts said the spending data could be a turning point,
as consumption in China has struggled to recover since the
lifting of COVID curbs, weighed down by a property market
downturn, high youth unemployment and concerns over job security
amid an economic slowdown.
"Our sense is that there is a small but growing sentiment within
white collar jobs that the market situation is improving and
this is also leading to greater willingness to spend," said Ben
Cavender, managing director at Shanghai-based China Market
Research Group.
He said some companies were thinking about how to grow their
business in China again after years of holding off on investing,
which was helping sentiment to improve.
In February, average spending per trip during the Lunar New Year
holiday, one of the biggest holidays, fell 9.5% versus 2019
according to Reuters calculations based off government data,
prompting analysts to say that "consumption downgrading" was
still happening.
($1 = 7.2336 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Brenda Goh; editing by Miral Fahmy)
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