Sichuan posted a strong recovery in the cultural tourism sector at the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit. During the Chinese New Year Holiday, Sichuan received the largest number of tourists in China, as shown in the special monitoring data of the China Tourism Academy on January 27, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism told the reporter.

According to third-party big data, Sichuan registered 53.8759 million tourist visits and tourism revenue of 24.216 billion yuan during the holiday, up 24.73% and 10.43% year on year (YoY), both exceeding the national average and reaching 89.73% and 84.75% of the 2019 level.

In terms of scenic areas, 743 A-rated scenic areas included in the statistics received 29.6034 million tourist visits and achieved ticket revenue of 303.676 million yuan, up 34.29% and 55.1% YoY and reaching 77.42% and 75.57% of the 2019 level. Among them, 15 in-service 5A-rated scenic areas received 2.8164 million tourist visits and achieved ticket revenue of 77.7858 million yuan, up 46.7% and 54.48% YoY and reaching 95.01% and 82.9% of the 2019 level.

From January 23 to 27, Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area released the news of hitting the quota for daytime tours for five consecutive days and set a record of receiving more than 100,000 tourists in 24 hours. During this holiday, Sichuan created new highs in several areas over the past three years, including tourist visits and income achieved by 21 cities (prefectures) and A-rate scenic areas. Among them, seven scenic areas logged higher visits and income than the 2019 level, including Langzhong Ancient City, Deng Xiaoping’s Hometown, and Mount Emei, said a chief officer with the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. In the first three days of the holiday, the number of visits to Wuhou Shrine increased by 1,772.15% YoY to over 650,000.

As the new Chengdu-Kunming Railway entered operation, the Panzhihua and Xichang area which boasts plenty of sunshine became a popular destination appealing to many tourists during the holiday. According to Xichang Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, the city presented wonderful activities, distributed cultural tourism consumption coupons worth 10 million yuan to tourists to Xichang, and offered favorable policies, such as free parking at all public parking lots. During the seven days, Xichang received 1.6591 million tourist visits and achieved a tourism revenue of 1,712.174 million yuan, up 36.39% and 44.92% from the 2019 level, respectively. “On January 25, Xichang’s Jianchang Ancient City received more than 100,000 visits in a single day, ranking third among scenic areas in the province.”

Cross-provincial travel also ushered in a good start. During the holiday, nonlocal tourists accounted for 37.13%, up 5.6% from 2019. The number of visits from Chongqing and Guangdong to Sichuan exceeded 2.5 million.

In Sichuan, a total of 144 4A- and 5A-rated scenic areas offered preferential policies such as ticket discounts. In regions like Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, and Panzhihua, the national 4A- and 5A-rated scenic areas offered the policy of “buying one ticket for one free”, while those below the 4A rate allowed free admission.

In addition, the province launched the activity themed “New Experience in Comfortable Sichuan” and distributed New Year gift packages worth more than 74 million yuan, including online and offline snap-up coupons, consumption coupons, and discount coupons, by means of “financial support + market”. Favorable policies unlocked the strong vitality of cultural tourism. Statistics show that tourist consumption accounted for 34.77% of the provincial total consumption during the holiday, up 3.62% from 2022.