Some 4.6 million tourists descended upon the Chinese capital of Beijing during the five-day May Day holiday, as the country relaxed its travel restrictions amid dwindling Covid-19 cases, Chinese state media China Daily reported.

Beijing received 4.6 million tourists during the five-day May Day holiday after a relaxation of travel restrictions amid dwindling COVID-19 cases in China https://t.co/n6k0DuFie7 pic.twitter.com/ABTQ8n1FEP

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) May 6, 2020

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said that tourism revenue generated over the May Day holiday, which ended on Tuesday, May 5, is around RMB4.18 billion (S$835 million).

A total of 126 major tourist attractions and 226 "star-rated hotels" reopened during the holiday, the bureau said.

Xinhua further reported that since Beijing lowered its Covid-19 emergency response by one level, visitors from low-risk regions of China are not required to be quarantined for 14 days after entering Beijing.

Over 115 million trips made during holiday

Reuters reported that 115 million trips were made over the holiday, and that most trips were made by younger people emerging from weeks of lockdown.

While the number of trips during this holiday was down 41 per cent from the 195 million trips made in the same period in 2019, travel operators said the figure is a hopeful sign that tourist confidence is slowly recovering.

The pace of recovery, however, remains slow as China still maintains some social distancing measures, and consumer confidence is still affected by uncertainty, Japanese financial company Nomura opined.

As China gradually returns to life before Covid-19 hit, it has also made preparations to prevent a second wave of infections from imported cases.

Top image via Xinhua