Dai Bin | Initiating a New Chapter in the Construction of a Tourism Power in the "15th Five-Year Plan" Period

Recently, Dai Bin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the director of the China Tourism Academy, published a signed article titled "Opening a New Chapter for the Construction of a Tourism Power in the '15th Five-Year Plan' - Analysis of the Tourism Economy in 2025 and Forecast for 2026" in the 2nd issue of "Tourism Review" in 2026. The full text is as follows:

Abstract

In 2025, the tourism economy started strong and continued its upward trend, perfectly concluding the "14th Five-Year Plan" and steadily entering a new cycle of prosperity and a new stage of high-quality development. Domestic tourism demand upgraded and the market expanded to lower-tier cities, presenting a new balanced development pattern characterized by "seven festivals and four seasons," robust supply and demand, and interaction between urban and rural areas. Major market indicators such as the number of domestic tourists and total tourism spending reached record highs. From "China Tourism" and "China Shopping" to "China Medical Tourism," and further to experiencing the beauty of contemporary China in all aspects, the inbound tourism market achieved unexpected growth. The outbound tourism market accelerated its recovery, with safety and quality receiving greater attention. The quality of tourism development further improved, with tourist satisfaction, employee well-being, business confidence, and the industry prosperity index all increasing simultaneously. In 2026, influenced by the combined effects of multiple favorable policies, markets, industries, and international factors, the willingness of urban and rural residents to travel and the confidence of business leaders will remain high, tourism consumption and investment will be more active, and development prospects are positive and optimistic. At the policy level, in 2026, it is necessary to further implement the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, formulate and implement the "15th Five-Year Plan" for building a strong tourism country, promote the deep integration of culture and tourism, improve the modern tourism industry system, and promote the steady and long-term high-quality development of the tourism industry.

Key Words | Keywords Tourism Economy; Analysis for 2025; Forecast for 2026; "15th-16th Five-Year" Plan; Tourism Power Country

Tourism statistics and data analysis serve as the preparatory work for doing a good job in tourism economy and promoting the high-quality development of the tourism industry. They also form the fundamental support for building a tourism power, developing a pillar industry, and creating industries related to people's livelihood and happiness. [1] Conducting a comprehensive analysis of the tourism economy in 2025 and systematically summarizing the achievements and experiences of tourism development during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period will help to build a broad consensus within the tourism system and the tourism industry. Making accurate predictions of the tourism economy in 2026 and scientifically analyzing the development situation and goals of the tourism industry during the "15th Five-Year Plan" will open a new chapter in the construction of a tourism power. [2-3]

1. By 2025, the tourism economy will have achieved a successful conclusion of the "14th Five-Year Plan" and will steadily enter a new cycle of rational prosperity and a new stage of high-quality development.

As an indicator of economic growth and a gauge of social development, the seven major holidays in 2025 continued to lead the domestic tourism market, laying a solid foundation for the steady growth of tourism throughout the year. In 2025, the number of domestic tourists nationwide reached 6.522 billion, an increase of 16.2% year-on-year. The total domestic tourism expenditure was 6.30 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5% year-on-year; the number of inbound tourists was 154 million, generating international tourism revenue of 131.14 billion US dollars; the number of outbound tourists was 148 million. The main tourism economic indicators such as the number of domestic tourists, total domestic tourism expenditure, and the number of inbound tourists from foreign countries reached new historical highs.

High-level tourism demand drives high-quality tourism supply, and the quality of tourism supply further boosts the level of tourism demand. Affected by the stable and high levels of residents' travel intentions, entrepreneurs' confidence, and policy expectations, the tourism economic prosperity index (CTA-TEP) in 2025 was 119.88, with a year-on-year growth of 6.8%.

1. Tourism consumption has shifted from "seven seasons and two periods" to "seven seasons and four seasons". The upgrading of demand and the market expansion have significantly enhanced the tourism appeal in smaller cities and county-level areas, and the spatial and temporal structure of the tourism economy has become more balanced.

In 2025, the scale of travel by urban and rural residents will continue to grow, and the consumption structure will become more complete. This will lead to new changes in tourism consumption, including an upgrade in demand, extension of time, and balance in space and time. From the three long holidays of the Spring Festival, Labor Day, and National Day, key indicators such as the scale of travel, tourism expenditure, travel radius, and destination recreation radius have continued to increase. In 2025, the total number of tourists and the total consumption during the seven public holidays reached record highs. The average daily number of tourists and the average tourism expenditure per person increased by 15.4% and 11.0% respectively compared to 2019.

Theme tours such as spring flower viewing and leisure outings, summer heat avoidance and academic exploration, autumn scenery exploration and leaf observation, and winter ice and snow customs have continued to gain popularity, making the tourism consumption throughout the year more balanced. The 2024-2025 winter sports season and the summer market in 2025 reached their peak in the past three years. The second quarter is traditionally the off-season for tourism consumption. Driven by leisure demands and experiential consumption such as flower viewing, intangible cultural heritage exploration, and academic tours, the number of tourists increased by 14.2% compared to 2023 and 27.7% compared to 2024. From the perspective of the number of tourists and tourism consumption indicators, the domestic tourism market is moving towards a new balanced development pattern from the traditional "seven festivals and two seasons" to "seven festivals and four seasons".

The upgrading of demand and the sinking of the market have effectively expanded the space of the domestic tourism market. While the tourism consumption of first- and second-tier cities continues to grow, we have noticed that driven by economic and social development and the upgrading of residents’ consumption demand, lower-tier cities, counties and rural areas are not only sinking domestic tourism destinations, but also becoming increasingly important tourist source markets. The source of tourists continues to extend from high-tier cities to many lower-tier cities, counties and rural areas, which fully shows that tourism has been integrated into the daily life of residents in lower-tier cities, counties and rural areas. The upgrading of demand of residents in lower-tier cities, counties and rural areas has further boosted the sinking of the tourism market and consolidated the market foundation for the high-quality development of the tourism industry. During holidays, the number of rural residents traveling and the proportion of self-driving travel have steadily increased[4]. The level of age-friendly and barrier-free guarantee of transportation, accommodation, scenic spots, resorts and tourist trains has continued to improve, and everyone can fully appreciate the beauty of nature, understand the beauty of culture and experience the beauty of life on this beautiful land. A special survey by the China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) shows that in 2025, 81.0% of rural residents expressed a willingness to travel, accounting for 23.4% of all domestic tourists. Their growth rates in domestic tourist arrivals and spending were 8.3 and 13.9 percentage points higher than those of urban residents, respectively. Rural residents contributed 31% to the national growth in tourist arrivals. Considering that tens of millions of rural residents become urban residents each year, this data indicates that the travel potential of rural residents is even more noteworthy. Data from the joint laboratory of the China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) and Shenzhen University shows that nearly 40% of tourists come from small and medium-sized cities, an increase of 7 percentage points from the previous year, and the proportion of tourists traveling more than three times is higher than that of other city sizes. A new stage of mass tourism, characterized by urban residents going to the countryside, farmers moving to cities, and urban-rural interaction, is arriving alongside a new cycle of prosperous tourism economic development.

2. The supply of visa, consumption and payment facilitation policies has been continuously strengthened, and the synergy effect of these policies has been continuously unleashed. As a result, the number of foreign tourists entering the country and the foreign exchange earnings from tourism have achieved significantly higher-than-expected growth.

By the end of 2025, China has achieved full visa exemption with 29 countries. The number of countries offering unilateral visa exemption and transit visa exemption has expanded to 48 and 55 respectively, and the visa-free areas have expanded from Europe to Latin America and the Middle East. Under the combined effect of favorable policies such as visa facilitation, tax exemption and departure tax refund, as well as cultural and tourism promotion activities like "Hello! China" and "Happy Spring Festival", the prosperous situation has seen an increase in inbound tourist numbers and foreign exchange earnings, and an accelerated recovery of outbound tourism. China plays a significant role in promoting the development of the world tourism industry and is an important window for high-level opening-up and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The destinations for inbound tourism are shifting from major hubs such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu to second- and third-tier cities with rich cultural heritage and distinctive resources. Compared to traditional natural landscapes and historical and cultural resources, today's inbound tourists are more inclined to experience high-speed rail, airports, logistics and smart tourism scenarios, and are more willing to purchase high-quality electronic communication devices and Chinese-style cultural products. A survey shows that foreign inbound tourists are shifting from "Chinese tours", "Chinese purchases" and "Chinese medical care" to experiencing the entire picture of contemporary Chinese life. "Becoming Chinese" has become a hot topic on overseas social platforms. Large international events such as the World Games and the Asian Winter Games are becoming new engines to effectively drive inbound "event tourism".

Data shows that the number of international routes, destinations, and flights, as well as the number of available seats and ticket prices, are significantly correlated with the number of inbound tourists and tourism foreign exchange earnings, and have a definite causal relationship with inbound tourism consumption. In 2025, the number of inbound international flights increased by 13.9% year-on-year. The top 13 source countries for inbound flights were all Asian countries, accounting for nearly 90%, followed by Australia, the UAE, the UK, and the US. Compared to 2024, the capacity of flights to and from North America and Europe increased rapidly, while international airfares remained stable with a slight decrease. Flights to and from the US increased by 13.8%, flights to and from Canada and Mexico increased by over 150%, and flights to and from Belgium and Austria increased by over 30%. It is noteworthy that in the past year, the contribution of Belt and Road Initiative participating countries and Global South countries to the growth of the inbound tourism market has significantly increased.

The outbound tourism market is recovering rapidly, with tourists paying more attention to the safety, order, and service quality of their destinations. Looking at the destinations and volumes of outbound tourism, Hong Kong and Macau's status as the foundational tourism markets for the mainland is becoming increasingly solid. In 2025, the number of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong and Macau reached 37.8338 million and 29.0172 million respectively, representing year-on-year increases of 11.1% and 18.5%. Influenced by international circumstances and geopolitical factors, overseas tourist destinations remain primarily neighboring Asian countries and countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. While Thailand, the Philippines, and Myanmar saw increases in the number of Chinese tourists, the growth rate fell short of expectations. Vietnam and Laos, leveraging their railway connectivity and cost-effectiveness, have become new growth models for Chinese outbound tourism destinations, with the China-Vietnam Detian (Ban Gioc) Waterfall cross-border tourism cooperation zone showing significant results. Affected by Sanae Kao's erroneous remarks regarding Taiwan, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan initially surged but then declined, with a significant decrease in the fourth quarter. The visa-free agreement between China and Russia has significantly boosted "border tours" and border tourism, with experiencing different cultures locally becoming a common choice for both Chinese and foreign tourists. During the summer and National Day holidays, there has been significant growth in long-haul destinations such as Europe and the United States. Travel demand has shifted from classic routes to in-depth experiences, and younger customers are more willing to pay for unique products that combine family travel with nature and luxury.

3. New quality productive forces and transportation infrastructure have become new driving forces for the development of modern tourism. The performance of tourism groups and listed companies has steadily improved.

During 2025 and the 14th Five-Year Plan period, improved transportation infrastructure and new productive forces such as artificial intelligence will significantly promote entrepreneurship and innovation in the tourism industry. The transformation of tourism by modern technology is not only reflected in the smart tourism scenarios driven by mobile communication, big data, and artificial intelligence, but also in the innovation of tourism methods brought about by advanced manufacturing technologies and modern transportation systems. The improvement of transportation infrastructure, including high-speed railways, highways, civil aviation, general aviation, inland waterway shipping, and cruise terminals, and the innovation of transportation tools, are profoundly changing people's travel habits and the supply system of tourism products. Data from China State Railway Group shows that during the 62-day summer railway travel season, the national railway system transported a total of 943 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, setting a new record for the same period. Civil aviation transported a total of 147 million passengers, including 16 million passengers on international/Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan routes. Passenger throughput at branch airports in tourist destinations such as Pu'er Simao, Shiyan Wudang Mountain, and Haibei Qilian increased by more than 100% year-on-year. Thanks to the well-developed transportation network, modern transportation tools, and revolutionary advancements in science and technology, the demand for self-driving tours, independent tours, free travel, customized tours, and diversified, personalized, and high-quality tourism has been greatly satisfied.

The tourism group leverages its capital and operational advantages to shift investment and mergers and acquisitions towards the upstream of the industrial chain. For instance, the China Tourism Group acquired the Songhua Lake International Resort, and the Shangri-La Group promoted the construction of the second phase of Beijing Universal Studios. Leading enterprises continue to increase their investment in demand analysis, product development, and key technology research and development, leading entrepreneurship and innovation in the tourism sector and effectively boosting industry confidence. In 2025, the tourism entrepreneurs' confidence index rose to 109.28, increasing by 11.4% compared to the previous year. More than half of the tourism listed companies maintained revenue growth, and nearly 80% achieved profitability. The price-earnings ratio of the tourism listed sector was 60.4, ranking 25th among the 86 industry sectors in the domestic A-share market. In 2025, the combined revenue of the top 20 tourism groups in China reached 602.4 billion yuan, with an average revenue of 30.12 billion yuan per company, and revenue and profit increased by 29.3 billion yuan and 1.47 billion yuan respectively compared to the previous year.

At the same time, it must be recognized that homogeneous supply and "involution" are hindering the modernization of the traditional tourism industry. The supply of tourism accommodation continues to expand, and apart from a few luxury brands and budget hotel chains, the industry as a whole faces downward pressure on operations. STR data shows that from January to October 2025, domestic hotel occupancy rates, average room rates, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) decreased by 3.0%, 1.0%, and 4.0% year-on-year, respectively. The growth in the travel agency sector has outpaced qualitative improvement, with the number of registered economic entities increasing year after year. It is noteworthy that the performance divergence between online travel agencies (OTAs) and traditional travel agencies, as well as within traditional travel agencies themselves, has intensified, further accumulating "antagonism" between different business models. Data from a special survey by the China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) shows that in 2025, the market share of group tours organized and packaged by travel agencies further declined, while professional travel service providers focusing on customized tours, niche markets, and lifestyles generally achieved performance growth. Under intense competitive pressure, tourist attractions and resorts are placing greater emphasis on experiential consumption content and scene creation. According to special monitoring data from the China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), although the average price of package tickets for tourist attractions and experience programs still increased by 4.1% year-on-year in 2025, the growth potential of tourist attractions in terms of visitor numbers and consumption continued to be pressured due to the diversion of visitors to historical and cultural blocks, leisure commercial districts, and urban parks. It is worth noting that competitors from the technology, culture, and media sectors are accelerating their entry into the tourism industry, further compressing the development space of traditional business models.

4. The tourism policy supply has become increasingly diverse and coordinated. The spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference and macroeconomic policies such as those related to finance and finance have guided the high-quality development of the tourism economy.

The supply of tourism policies at the central level has shifted from being led by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to being jointly issued by multiple ministries, while local Party committees and governments have been issuing a flurry of tourism promotion policies, resulting in a more proactive policy supply. Since the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, thousands of tourism policies have been introduced across the country, playing a significant role in helping businesses overcome difficulties, improving the modern tourism system, promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism, and accelerating the supply-side structural reform of the tourism industry. In terms of policy providers, a tourism governance structure led by the Party committee, with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism taking the lead, and involving multiple departments and cross-regional collaboration, has been basically established. Regarding policy carriers, a policy system, guided by Party committee documents and plenary session resolutions, including government documents, departmental documents, regulations, plans, and standards, is gradually being improved. In terms of policy tools, general policy tools such as finance and taxation are given equal importance to specific policy tools such as destination promotion and tourism market regulation. In terms of policy objectives, the "three major orientations" and "five major tasks" of the tourism industry, as well as the construction of a strong tourism nation, are fully reflected. In terms of policy content, regional characteristics and resource endowments are generally emphasized, and a differentiated development pattern for the tourism industry has begun to take shape. Overall, local tourism policies have fully implemented the central government's plans for tourism work, with more aligned policy objectives and more effective policy tools, enhancing the sense of gain for businesses and tourists and becoming an important driving force for the development of local tourism. However, it must also be recognized that local tourism industry policies and development goals still suffer from varying degrees of problems, including blindly setting high targets, project investment being out of touch with provincial and municipal conditions, difficulty in revitalizing idle and inefficient assets, and an emphasis on policy formulation while neglecting implementation, evaluation, stability, and consistency.

II. In the next five years, the fundamental trend of the tourism economy will remain stable and positive. Multiple opportunities will converge, innovative momentum will accumulate, and expectations will be optimistic. However, it will also face challenges such as changes in demand, digital transformation, and collaborative supervision.

2026 marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. The national economy and urban and rural residents' income will maintain stable growth, with more guaranteed time for tourism and leisure. The construction effects of transportation infrastructure such as railways, highways, airports, and ports, as well as public cultural services, will continue to be released, further accelerating tourism investment and the pace of entrepreneurship and innovation among market entities. Practical measures introduced at the Central Economic Work Conference, the Central Urban Work Conference, and the Central Rural Work Conference, focusing on stimulating service consumption potential and optimizing the business environment, are also driving policy resources towards areas directly related to people's well-being, such as culture and tourism. Coordinated efforts from fiscal, monetary, and other macroeconomic policies will continuously improve social expectations and optimize the consumption environment, providing stronger institutional support for upgrading tourism infrastructure, innovating product formats, and building a talent system. As tourism becomes a rigid demand and daily option for people's pursuit of a better life in China's modernization process, the continuously growing demand for cultural and leisure activities and the ingrained travel habits will continue to form a solid foundation for building a strong tourism nation and promoting high-quality development of the tourism industry.

In the new year, the State Council will release the "15-20" Tourism Power Construction Plan, using more practical planning ideas and more powerful policy measures to promote the deep integration of culture and tourism, facilitate and internationalize inbound tourism, unleash tourism consumption potential, improve the modern tourism system, and promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry in a steady and sustainable manner. Based on the summary of experience, more emphasis will be placed on the effective utilization of policy stocks and the policy reserves with efficiency orientation. Under the supervision of the People's Congress for law-based governance and the democratic supervision of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, local governments will take effective measures to enhance tourism development conferences, tourism events, tourism promotion, tourism public services, as well as the professional efficiency of revitalizing the existing resources and optimizing the new ones.

From the perspective of the global tourism development environment, the widespread implementation of visa and consumption facilitation policies, increased flights, enhanced transportation capacity of international trains and cruise ships, as well as strengthened international tourism cooperation and exchanges, have provided a solid supply-side guarantee for the global tourism economy to steadily enter a new cycle of prosperity and development. It is worth noting that the overseas tourism potential of the countries participating in the "Belt and Road Initiative", the countries in the Global South, and the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been steadily released. The modern socialist modernization of China, with modern technology and contemporary culture, has attracted tourists from traditional and emerging source countries to visit. More and more foreign inbound tourists are willing to experience China's natural scenery, traditional culture and contemporary life. With more countries providing security, quality and convenience guarantees for Chinese tourists, the outbound tourism market will enter a new stage of normalization, quality improvement and intelligence in the coming year.

Over the next five years, tourism demand will continue to diversify and improve in quality. Young people will place greater emphasis on the travel experience, further enhancing the sense of ritual, atmosphere, and emotional value of tourism consumption. Cultural connotations, technological content, and a better life will become new driving forces attracting domestic and international tourists. While traveling by car, tourists are more willing to use public transportation and public services at their destinations, making the sharing of a better life space between tourists and visitors more apparent. With the support of transportation infrastructure such as railways, highways, civil aviation, and inland waterway shipping, tourist flows will not only concentrate in major cities and regional centers like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, but will also further disperse to lower-tier cities and county-level towns. Travel agencies, tour guides, tourist attractions, resorts, and hotels will remain classic tourism formats and practitioners. At the same time, more investment institutions and market entities with backgrounds in industry, agriculture, technology, and education will cross over into the market. Artificial intelligence and big data technologies will profoundly change people's travel habits and restructure the tourism supply chain and industrial ecosystem.

Based on indicators such as the travel intentions of urban and rural residents, the travel merchant order index, the entrepreneur confidence index, as well as favorable factors such as the release of existing policies and the supply of additional policies in the macroeconomy, social development, and tourism economy, we maintain a positive and optimistic expectation for the tourism economy in 2026. [5] In the next five years, the main indicators of the tourism economy will shift from compensatory high-speed growth since 2023 to a normal medium-speed growth. Specifically, the number of domestic tourists, the total domestic tourism expenditure are likely to maintain a growth rate of 1 to 2 percentage points higher than the national economy, while the number of inbound tourists, especially the number of foreigner inbound tourists, and international tourism revenue will maintain single-digit stable growth. This change will continue to have a comprehensive, systematic and profound impact on various aspects of tourism development theory, guiding ideology, tourism entrepreneurship and innovation, project investment, and enterprise operation during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.

III. Ensure a strong start to the tourism economy in 2026 and usher in a new chapter in the construction of a tourism power during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The integration of culture and tourism has broad prospects. We should promote the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry and truly build it into a pillar industry, a people's livelihood industry, and a 'happiness industry' [6]. We should focus on improving the modern tourism system, accelerate the construction of a tourism powerhouse, and enable the tourism industry to better serve a better life, promote economic development, build a spiritual home, showcase China's image, and enhance mutual learning among civilizations" [1]. General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions and instructions on tourism work have pointed out the direction and drawn up a blueprint for accelerating the construction of a tourism powerhouse and promoting the high-quality development of the tourism industry.

To do a good job in tourism in 2026, we must not only focus on the current tourism market situation and the phased requirements for the high-quality development of the tourism industry, but also consider the strategic goals of the "15th Five-Year Plan" for building a strong tourism country. We should focus on the supply of tourism products and the improvement of tourism services for New Year's Day, Spring Festival and ice and snow, and ensure a good start for tourism in the new year. We should continue to increase the publicity of tourism themes during holidays and the four seasons, and boost tourism consumption expectations and tourism investment confidence. We should do a good job in the field of humanities and economics, promote the deep integration of culture and tourism, and cultivate more excellent literary and artistic works and high-quality tourism products with cultural originality. We should promote the extensive integration of tourism with the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and promote the improvement of the quality and efficiency of classic business formats such as travel agencies, tourist attractions and star-rated hotels. [7] We should cultivate new driving forces of modern technology such as artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, and create new spaces for cultural experience, new scenarios for tourism consumption and new tourism formats. We should optimize the tourism promotion system, cultivate national tourism routes in the new era, and transform the policy advantages of facilitating inbound tourism and internationalization into development opportunities. We should guide local governments and industries to revitalize inefficient and idle assets and optimize tourism investment and entrepreneurial innovation. We must strengthen the order and safety supervision of the tourism market, and continuously improve tourist satisfaction, the sense of gain for business employees, and the sense of fulfillment for destination residents. We must effectively promote, implement, and assign responsibilities for the "15th Five-Year Plan" for building a strong tourism nation, and truly develop the tourism industry into a pillar industry, a people's livelihood industry, and a happiness industry.

First, we will enrich the supply of tourism products for the New Year's Day and Spring Festival holidays, as well as ice and snow tourism, to ensure a strong start to the tourism economy in the first quarter of 2026. The cultural and tourism departments will conduct thorough safety inspections, adhere to ideological red lines, and ensure a smooth and orderly holiday tourism experience. During the New Year's Day and Spring Festival holidays, urban and rural residents' willingness to travel is high, ice and snow leisure activities ignite winter passion, and cultural and museum tourism, intangible cultural heritage tourism, folk-themed tourism, leisure and vacation tourism, and outbound tourism continue to heat up. According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, during the three-day New Year's Day holiday, the number of domestic tourists nationwide reached 142 million, with total domestic tourism spending reaching 84.789 billion yuan. The total number of inbound and outbound tourists reached 2.674 million, including 1.303 million inbound tourists, 294,000 foreign tourists, and 1.371 million outbound tourists from mainland China. The tourism market got off to a high start during the nine-day "longest Spring Festival holiday in history," with 596 million domestic trips nationwide, an increase of 95 million trips compared to the eight-day Spring Festival holiday in 2025; total domestic tourism spending reached 803.483 billion yuan, an increase of 126.481 billion yuan compared to the eight-day Spring Festival holiday in 2025.

In response to the phased demands during the New Year's Day and Spring Festival holidays, the winter sports season and the early spring season, the cultural and tourism sector has launched a series of products such as family-friendly tours, leisure and vacation tours, self-driving tours and special train tours. It has also guided travel agencies to put on a number of tourism routes featuring cultural characteristics, such as folk customs, intangible cultural heritage and winter sports. Under the joint promotion of favorable policies and entrepreneurship and innovation, the tourism economy in the first quarter witnessed a prosperous supply and demand situation, rising volume and prices, and satisfied tourists. This laid a solid foundation for the high and stable growth of the tourism economy throughout the year.

Second, we will continue to intensify promotional efforts for holiday and seasonal tourism themes, driving the revitalization of classic tourist attractions and the innovation of distinctive tourism entrepreneurship. Targeting lower-tier markets and upgrading demands, we will increase investment in public service tourism promotion on mainstream and online media. We will launch a series of new tourism products, including spring outings, industrial tourism, summer retreats, mountain climbing and hiking, science popularization and study tours, marine tourism, desert tourism, inland river cruises, and low-altitude flights, guiding the revitalization of tourist attractions and the innovation of tourist resorts, enriching the cultural and technological content of traditional tourist spaces, and continuously meeting the diverse, personalized, and high-quality tourism needs of the people. In conjunction with urban renewal and rural revitalization, we will revitalize existing urban and rural resources, focus on the development of humanistic economics, cultivate new productive forces, create more new spaces for cultural experiences and new tourism consumption scenarios, and improve the quality of tourism services, tourist satisfaction, and employee well-being.

Thirdly, conduct an assessment of the implementation effect of the inbound tourism facilitation policies, and guide all regions and industries to transform the policy advantages into innovative momentum. Conduct systematic and in-depth special surveys for inbound tourists from Hong Kong and Macao, Taiwan, overseas Chinese and foreigners. Conduct in-depth interviews with market operators in areas such as travel services, tourism accommodation, and tourism shopping. List the consumption pain points faced by inbound tourists and study more precise policy improvement measures. Make more accessible and tangible facilitation policies for more tourists from developed countries in Europe and America, such as unilateral visa exemptions, multiple-entry visas with one application, electronic visas, and one-code passage for domestic tourism. Further improve the convenience level of foreign tourists in terms of accommodation and tourism. Optimize the external tourism promotion system, so that tourism wholesalers, tour operators, and online travel agencies can promptly obtain policy information. Promote more tourism routes and products that showcase contemporary China's image, and improve the service level of tour guides in foreign languages, especially in lesser-known languages.

Fourth, we will accelerate the formulation and release of the "15th Five-Year Plan" for tourism development, and simultaneously issue interpretive articles and division of responsibilities documents. We will improve the national tourism development strategy system centered on the people, implement inclusive tourism, develop a modern tourism industry that satisfies the people, and allow more people to enjoy better tourism. We will build an indicator management system with normalized statistical monitoring and forward-looking early warning as its core. In a new cycle of rational prosperity and a new stage of high-quality development, the tourism system and industry should pursue genuine growth without inflated figures, rather than being driven by traffic, and certainly not by spending money to buy traffic. Neither the five-year plan goals nor the annual development indicators should be set too high. Market data during the "seven festivals and four seasons" should be compared with our own past performance, and we should not be anxious or complacent because of temporary or localized data declines. Compared with the intensity of publicity and promotion, the strength of market governance, tourist satisfaction, and the sense of gain for practitioners and destination residents should be the focus of the tourism department's work. We will strengthen the political requirements and professional guidance for local cultural and tourism departments to ensure effective coordination of plans at all levels and in all fields. We will guide investment institutions and market operators to comprehensively utilize fiscal, financial, and commercial means to revitalize inefficient and idle assets, optimize tourism investment and entrepreneurship innovation, and strive to improve the modern tourism industry system. We will accelerate the revision of the "Tourism Law of the People's Republic of China," the "Regulations on Travel Agencies," the "Regulations on the Management of Tour Guides," and the "Regulations on the Management of Outbound Tourism," and promote the "Regulations on the Management of Tourist Attractions and Resorts" into the administrative legislative process. We will accelerate the formation of a new pattern of tourism work that comprehensively strengthens Party leadership and governs and promotes tourism according to law, so that various regulations can better guide and serve the development of the industry and create a new situation of governing and promoting tourism according to law.

[References]

People's Daily, 2024-05-18(1).[2] Communiqué of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China [EB/OL]. (2025-10-23) [2026-01-31]. http://yt.jxzfw.gov.cn/2024/0802/20240802672.html [3] Sun Yeli. Developing Cultural Undertakings and Cultural Industries [N]. People's Daily, 2025-12-12(9).[4] Dai Bin. Tourist China: A Wonderful Time of Joy and Harmony: Special Comment on the 2025 National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday [EB/OL]. (2025-10-09)[2025-12-22]https://ctaweb.org.cn/?a=index&c=Lists&m=home&t" data-pm-slice=" 1 1 ["para",{"tagName":"section","attributes":{"data-role":"paragraph"},"namespaceURI":"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"},"para",{"tagName":"section","attributes":{"data-role":"outer","label":"edit by 135editor","data-pm-slice" :"0 0 []"},"namespaceURI":"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"}]" > [5] China Tourism Academy. "Analysis of China's Tourism Economy in 2025 and Forecast for 2026" [M]. Beijing: China Tourism Publishing House, 2026.

[6] Henan Daily, Henan Provincial Social Sciences Joint Research Group. Accelerating the Construction of a Strong Cultural Tourism Province and Promoting High-Quality Industrial Development [N]. Henan Daily, 2025-07-04 (9). [7] Dai Bin. The Theory of Cultural and Tourism Integration [M]. Beijing: Commercial Press, 2025.

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