China holiday travel slumps after COVID-19 outbreaks: State media

The number of journeys taken over China's three-day Tomb Sweeping Festival holiday tumbled by nearly two-thirds from last year, state media said, citing data from the transport ministry, as authorities battle outbreaks of COVID-19 across the country. The decline was worse than expected and comes as analysts warn that the economic cost of keeping infections to a minimum is likely to soar, with sectors like tourism bearing the biggest brunt. Total trips - including rail, air, waterway and road - reached an estimated 53.78m over the three-day period beginning on Apr 3, down 63%, the official Economic Daily reported late on Tuesday. The figure was also about 10% lower than 2020 when parts of China were still recovering from the first coronavirus outbreak that began in central China's Wuhan. Air travel was the worst hit, with the total number of flights falling to an estimated 562,000, down 87% from a year ago and 54% down in 2020. Road journeys fell 53% on the year and were also slightly lower than 2020. China's transport ministry had said on Sunday that it expected road traffic to drop 20% and flights to fall 55% during the three-day holiday.<br/>