Roundup

133 MILLION RAILWAY TRIPS

China saw 133 million railway trips during the first 10 days of the summer travel rush that kicked off on July 1, the country's railway operator said on Tuesday. During the period, 13.34 million passenger trips were made daily, up 16 percent from the same period in 2019, according to China State Railway Group. The summer travel rush is usually a busy season for the country's railway system as college students return home and the demand for transport due to family visits and travel soars.

OVER 3,000 LIBRARIES

By the end of 2022, China had 14,917 A-level tourist spots, creating jobs for 1.47 million people, according to a report by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The tourist spots received 2.63 billion visitors in 2022 and reported a total revenue of 181.85 billion yuan ($25.4 billion). The report also showed that the country had 3,303 public libraries in 2022, an increase of 88 from the previous year. The public libraries contain a collection of nearly 1.36 billion volumes of books in total, a year-on-year increase of 7.8 percent, the report said.

MACAO'S PRICE INDEX UP

The Tourist Price Index of Macao for the second quarter of 2023 rose 19.47 percent year-on-year to 137.24, the special administrative region's statistics service said on Thursday. The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service showed that the quarterly increase was mainly attributable to rising hotel room rates and dearer prices of local food products. The price index of accommodation soared 150.74 percent year-on-year. Price indexes of entertainment and cultural activities and clothing and footwear increased 17.06 percent and 7.07 percent respectively.

INTL AIR ROUTES

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in Southwest China will add or resume several international routes during the summer travel peak. This year's summer travel rush started on July 1 and will last until Aug 31. To meet the travel needs of domestic and international tourists, Chongqing Airlines resumed direct flights between Chongqing and the Thai island of Phuket on July 1, and Xiamen Airlines has launched a new flight from Chongqing to Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Air China will open a new route between Chongqing and Singapore on July 23.

NEW APPOINTMENT

Tian Ye has been appointed general manager of Grand Millennium Beijing. As a veteran in the hospitality industry with more than two decades of hospitality experience, he has held various senior key positions with well-established international hotel chains, such as Wanda Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International and IHG across China, including Sanya, Nanchang, Tianjin and Beijing.

CRUISE SHIP IN TIANJIN

A cruise ship registered in Liberia docked at a port in North China's Tianjin municipality on July 8, becoming the first international cruise ship received by Tianjin Port over the past three years. The cruise ship, Dream, is 261 meters long and 40 meters wide and can accommodate over 2,000 passengers with more than 1,000 cabins. Tianjin has long been a cruise ship hub in north China. The coming of the Liberian cruise ship marked the post-COVID recovery of the city's cruise tourism sector.

Xinhua - China Daily