Spring Festival tourism stays in cities this year

Fewer migrant workers return to their hometowns during holiday

A greater number of Chinese people opted for local tours and to refresh themselves at hotels in celebration of this year's Spring Festival, also known as Lunar New Year, according to data from travel platform Ctrip.

Lunar New Year is a traditional festival where people, no matter where they are, return to their hometowns for family reunions. In a normal year, the annual holiday would have witnessed massive passengers flows heading to their hometowns and family tours to popular national tourist destinations.

This year, to curb the spread of COVID-19, the government called on people to remain where they work during the weeklong holiday, which started on Feb 11, rather than taking long-haul flights, trains or driving to reunite themselves with their families, or to travel to popular tourist destinations outside their cities.