Urban and Rural Chinese Travel Spending Grows in Early 2026

Domestic tourism expenditures in China reached 32.1 trillion yuan in the first half of 2026, a modest 2% rise over the same period last year. Urban tourists led the spending surge, putting forward 26.6 trillion yuan, which is 2.2% higher than a year ago. Rural visitors contributed 5.6 trillion yuan, experiencing a 0.6% increase.

The trip count that drove this spend totaled 3.463 billion, with city residents accounting for 2.594 billion trips and rural travelers for 869 million. Both segments showed solid growth, underscoring a broad-based recovery in China’s internal tourism market.