China's domestic travel sees massive growth

China's domestic traveler numbers and tourism-generated consumption have both registered remarkable growth in the first quarter of this year.

Figures unveiled by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Wednesday show that in the first three months, domestic tourism visits almost reached 1.8 billion, up by 26.4 percent year-on-year.

Among these tourism trips, about 1.32 billion were made by residents in urban areas and 476 million by people living in the countryside, with the two numbers growing by 22.4 percent and 39.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.

According to the ministry, the tourism-related consumption has also increased in the first quarter, reaching 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion) with a year-on-year growth of 18.6 percent.

Urban residents contributed 1.48 trillion yuan in tourism consumption, up 14.8 percent year-on-year, and people from the countryside contributed 320 billion yuan, up 39.6 percent year-on-year.