What: The usually record-breaking golden week fell short of last year’s level.

Why it is important: Post-pandemic consumption recovery is a reality, however it might not be as fast as needed by worldwide retailers.

Tourism revenue fell by 5% year on year during the last seven-day holidays from Oct 1-7 marking National Day. Normally the busiest travel period, domestic tourism revenue totalled USD 60.36 billion, the equivalent of 60% of the same week before the pandemic. According to Citi bank, this sluggish recovery is due to the soft prices of travel products as well as a shift towards short-haul trips. However, even on that front things are not yet settled: domestic trips are down -1.5% compared to last year, and represent only 70% of pre-pandemic levels.

While China has largely been successful in containing the Covid-19 multiple waves, including Delta variant, analysts are worried about potential new outbreaks.

China's soft Golden Week data bode ill for retail sales