China’s May Day Travel Surge Masks Consumer Caution as Key Spending Data Goes Missing

By Sophie Yu and Casey Hall

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 7 (Reuters) – China’s five-day May Day holiday ended with more people hitting the road, but a notable silence from Beijing on overall consumer spending has left analysts and market watchers guessing about the true health of domestic consumption.

While the Ministry of Transport reported a 3.49% year-on-year increase in trips during the May 1–5 break, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism — which typically releases comprehensive data on both travel volume and spending the day after the holiday — failed to publish its figures as expected on Wednesday. A ministry spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters he “wasn’t sure” why the release had been delayed, adding that no timeline for future publication had been set.

The missing data is significant. Spending during China’s multi-day public holidays is widely viewed as a barometer of consumer confidence, which has been under pressure from a prolonged property downturn, sluggish wage growth, and persistent deflationary trends. Even as exports have held up better than expected, domestic demand remains uneven.

The State Administration of Taxation offered a partial picture, reporting that sales revenue from consumption-related industries rose 14.3% year-on-year during the holiday, based on invoice data. But analysts caution that such figures may not fully capture consumer behavior, especially as per capita spending has lagged behind pre-pandemic levels.

Reuters calculations based on official data show that Chinese travelers spent an average of 574.1 yuan ($84.36) per trip during the 2025 May Day holiday, still below the 603.4 yuan recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Broadly, travel has been on the upswing, with growth in trips, lodging bookings, and food spending,” said Ben Cavender, managing director at Shanghai-based China Market Research Group. “But it’s also very clear that consumers are still being very value-driven in how they spend.”

Property markets in some major cities showed signs of life, thanks to targeted stimulus measures. According to China Index Academy, new-home sales by floor area in 26 key cities reached 518,000 square meters during the holiday, up 12.5% year-on-year. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Wuhan — which eased home-purchase restrictions and offered subsidies in late April — saw noticeable warming, while most other cities reported stable but unremarkable conditions.

Travel trends this year were shaped increasingly by personal interests rather than traditional sightseeing. A joint report from Alibaba-owned Fliggy and social media platform Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote) found that 69% of users now choose destinations based on hobbies, such as food or photography. Experiential travel products on Fliggy outperformed overall platform growth during the holiday.

H World Group, which operated more than 12,700 hotels in China last year, reported a 13.6% increase in total room nights year-on-year, citing robust holiday demand.

Yet the film market — another gauge of consumer sentiment — delivered a lackluster performance. The China Film Administration reported total box office revenue of 758 million yuan during the holiday, up just 1.41% year-on-year, with 20.8 million moviegoers. The average ticket price fell 8% to 36.3 yuan, reflecting cautious spending.

Voices from the Ground

Li Wei, 34, a marketing manager from Shanghai, said he spent the holiday traveling to Chengdu with his family but kept a tight budget. “We booked cheaper hotels and ate at local street stalls instead of restaurants. It’s not that we can’t afford more — it’s that we don’t feel confident enough to splurge. The economy feels shaky, and I’d rather save for a rainy day.”

Zhang Mei, 28, a freelance photographer from Beijing, took a different approach. “I went to Guizhou for a photography trip. I don’t care about luxury hotels or shopping. I just want experiences that feed my passion. That’s where I’m willing to spend.”

Wang Jie, 45, a factory worker from Zhengzhou, was more blunt. “The government keeps saying consumption is recovering, but where’s the money? I didn’t take any trip this year. I can’t afford to. And the missing spending data? That tells you everything. They don’t want us to see how bad it really is.”

($1 = 6.8053 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Sophie Yu in Beijing, Casey Hall in Shanghai; additional reporting by Liangping Gao; Editing by Kim Coghill)