China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism: Number of domestic travelers in January-September up 15.3% year-on-year - Chinese media

According to data released by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism on the 23rd, the number of domestic tourists in the first nine months of 2024 is expected to increase by 15.3% year-on-year, or 563 million people, to a total of 4.237 billion people.
Of these, urban residents increased by 14.9% to a total of 3.27 billion, while rural residents increased by 16.8% to a total of 967 million.
By quarter, the first quarter (January to March) saw a 16.7% increase to a total of 1.419 billion people, the second quarter (April to March) saw a 1.419 billion people.
In the third quarter (July-September), the total number of visitors increased 17.2% year-on-year to 1.512 billion.
Total spending by domestic travelers from January to September 2024 is expected to reach 4.35 trillion former (approximately 93.2 trillion yen), up 17.9% from the same period last year.
Of this, travel spending by urban residents increased by 17.1% to 3.71 trillion formers (approximately 79.5 trillion formers), while travel spending by rural residents increased by 2.2% to 3.71 trillion formers (approximately 14.1 trillion yen).
It increased by 2.5% to 640 billion yen (approximately 13.7 trillion yen).