Chinese spend $61billion during Spring Festival Holiday
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Tourists enjoy seaside scenery during Spring Festival holiday in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, on Jan. 29, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua/Cao Zhengping]

China's tourism has seen a huge spike during the recent Spring Festival holiday, officially from January 27th to February 2nd.

Throughout the seven-day holiday, major tourism sites across the country had a reported total of 344 million tourist visits, demonstrating a 13.8 percent year-on-year growth, according to the statistics released by the National Tourism Administration (CNTA).

Tourists visit the Ruins of St. Paul's in Macao, south China, on February 1, 2017, during China's Lunar New Year holiday. [Photo: Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka]

The booming domestic tourism sector also saw a spike in revenue, to RMB 423.3 billion, or some USD 61.6 billion this year.

As the Olympic Winter Games is going to be held in China in 2022, tourism at winter sites have gained increasing popularity, making many parts of the northern regions, such as Liaoning, Xinjiang, and Ningxia become hot spots for tourists.

Tourists cram to the Bund during the Spring Festival holiday in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 29, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua/Tian Yiwei]

Other popular tourist destinations include Dali and Lijiang in southwest China's Yunnan Province, Sanya in south China's Hainan Province, and Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province, as domestic news portal sina.com reported.

Chinese mainland tourists also made a record 6.15 million trips to overseas destinations during the holiday, a 7 percent increase compared with the figures of last year's Spring Festival.

People watch lion dance to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year at Chinatown in Antwerp, Belgium, on Feb. 1, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua/Gong Bing]

Official statistics show 374,000 trips were organized by travel agencies, with a 2.5 percent rise.

The travel website ctrip.com earlier estimated that Chinese tourists were expected to spend over 100 billion yuan overseas, up 11.5 percent year-on-year.

Among the 174 countries and regions of travel destinations, the US, UK, Australia and Thailand are still the most popular outbound tourism attractions.

Further, the number of visitors to countries like Kenya and the Philippines has also enjoyed a rise, as Chinese tourists' choice of destinations has expanded along with their growing interest in exotic cultures and services.

It's reported higher incomes, simpler visa application procedures and more flights are the reasons behind the surge in outbound tourists.

Author： 　　　Source：CRI　　　 Editor：Yang Fan