From Oct 1 to 7, the week-long National Day holiday, the total revenue of the national tourism sector reached 389.06 billion yuan ($60.38 billion), which is about 59.9 percent that of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data show that tourism is recovering at a brisk pace, and some new trends have emerged. First, some places of interest that were previously not so well known have been gaining popularity. Red tourism sites, those places associated with the revolutionary history of the nation, and those with the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), have seen more visitors. There were large rises in the number of visitors to Nanchang Uprising Memorial Museum in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, and the site of the Kunlunguan Battle in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, for instance, over the holiday.

Second, because of the pandemic, many people chose new forms of tourism, such as short trips to nearby places of interest, or travel that combined online and offline activities, which in turn has gained more online revenue for museums.

Third, the cultural sector has attracted more tourists. On the one hand, several films with patriotic themes were popular with cinemagoers. By Oct 7, the total box office revenue during the National Day holiday reached a record 4.5 billion yuan, higher than that of 2019. Universal Beijing Resort and the Shanghai Disney Resort also attracted large numbers of visitors.

Behind these trends is the country's huge consumption potential. Tourism is one of the sectors in which there is much potential consumption to be released. That in turn raises higher requirements for the quality of services. The quality of the tourism services needs to be in turn improved, so as to meet the demands of various groups of consumers.

As long as the domestic service sector provides better services and enriches its tourism products, it can appeal to more consumers and serve the national economy in the long run.