Sports tourism downturn: The impact of COVID-19 on Chinese tourism among urban and rural residents under epidemic

Abstract

Background:

China’s sports tourism has seen significant growth since the 2008 Olympics, only to be challenged by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. This study aims to assess the impact of the pandemic on China’s tourism and sports tourism, which are highly interrelated.

Method:

Data and materials from 2019 to mid-2023 were systematically collected and analyzed, focusing on seasonal tourism reports published on official local networks in China.

Results:

The study reveals a prepandemic annual tourism consumption of 6.63 trillion CNY, a 52.1% decline during the pandemic, and a postpandemic rebound exceeding pre–coronavirus disease levels.

Conclusion:

The pandemic’s impact was profound, yet the resilience of China’s tourism sector is evident, with a focus on the recovery’s implications for sustainable growth. Despite the pandemic’s disruption, China’s tourism and sports tourism sectors have demonstrated resilience and potential for continued growth, warranting ongoing attention.

1. Introduction

China’s sports tourism industry is characterized by its late start and rapid development. The 2008 Beijing Olympics, a nationwide sporting event of grand scale, catalyzed a significant migration towards sports tourism in China and introduced the concept of the sports tourism industry for the first time. Between 2008 and 2018, the sector flourished, achieving a leap from nonexistence to prominence.^[1] However, the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 2019 delivered a fatal blow to the industry: China’s tourism growth experienced a precipitous decline. In contemporary society, tourism has emerged as a formidable catalyst for economic growth and sustainability. A significant number of individuals opt to allocate their earnings towards enriching travel experiences during their holidays.^[2] However, towards the close of 2019, the advent of COVID-19, a devastating respiratory virus, unleashed its impact on humanity. In order to curtail the spread of the disease, numerous nations found themselves compelled to implement prolonged lockdown measures, lasting anywhere from 1 to 3 years.^[3]

During this period, residents’ travel plans have been significantly curtailed.^[4] The epidemic has exerted a profound influence on tourist behavior and the global tourism industry.^[5] Remarkably, a substantial number of tourists have shifted their focus towards domestic trips or exploring neighboring countries with lower expenditure, while others have either canceled or postponed their travel plans.^[6] Simultaneously, the economic ramifications of the disease have prompted residents to tighten their leisure budgets. Well-known resorts have been jolted by the implications of COVID-19 lockdowns. For instance, the travel industry in Southeast Asian regions, where tourism plays a pivotal role in generating economic growth, has been severely impacted.^[7]

This phenomenon in China is even more impressive. Due to the dense population distribution, it is more vulnerable than other sparsely populated countries for the pandemic cross infection. Undoubtedly, from the standpoint of curbing the spread of the epidemic, the implementation of lockdown measures proved useful and effective.^[8] Nevertheless, the tourism sector in China also suffered the consequences of these restrictions, with tourist behavior being impacted to varying degrees by the presence of the disease. Jiang research indicates that individuals are more inclined to forgo or alter their travel plans when they perceive a potential risk of infection during their journey.^[9] The risk management behavior strongly affects the tourists’ intention and behavior.

At the end of 2022, a new dawn broke upon us. China had announced that COVID-19 is no longer a serious public health disease and lifted the travel restrictions. Since that momentous declaration, China has begun to display clear signs of economic recovery, marking a significant turning point from the challenges imposed by the pandemic.^[10] The tourism industry in China and nearby countries has been recovering explosively. For the purpose of understanding the change of the Chinese tourism industry, and how big the impact of pandemic on tourist behavior and consumption as well as it on sports tourism, research intends to analyze the tourism data fluctuation before, during, and after the epidemic to explore the real influence of the disease.

2. Materials and method

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of The People’s Republic of China is the official organization for the Chinese tourism industry. Each year, officials will release a total report about the tourism achievement last year. All the data and material of this research come from the official website. Specifically, it includes the reports of 2019,^[11] 2020,^[12] 2021,^[13–15] 2022,^[16–19] and first half year of 2023.^[20,21] The situation of each season was published in the Official local network in China. As to the process methods, collection, systematic review, analysis, comparison are the main methods of this research.

3. Results and discussion

After the cleaning of data, the study intends to demonstrate the results as total, townsfolk, and rural tourist number and consumption, respectively.

3.1. The difference of tourist number and consumption

Prior to the advent of COVID-19, China stood as a formidable force in terms of economic growth, boasting an impressive record of over 6 billion tourist visits annually (see Table 1, which illustrates the number of Chinese tourists). This influx of visitors contributed to a staggering 6.63 trillion CNY in tourism consumption per year (see Table 2, which illustrates the consumption of Chinese tourists). The consumption of sports tourism also increased in a positive proportion. However, after the outbreak of COVID-19, the travel behavior has shown a trend of cliff-type descent. It can be contributed to the strictest policy to prevent the spread of disease that China has released. The 2020 report of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of The People’s Republic of China has demonstrated that compared to last year, the number of tourists in 2020 was 2.879 billion, a decrease of 3.127 billion (52.1%) from the year before (see Fig. 1, which illustrates the number of Chinese tourists). Meanwhile, tourism revenue was 2.23 trillion yuan, down by 3.50 trillion yuan (61.1%) from last year, as well as the sports tourism industry has also endured significant disruption.

Table 1.

Report on the number of Chinese tourists (100 million).

Year	The first quarter	The second quarter	The third quarter	The fourth quarter	The first half year	The second half year	Annual total value
2019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30.8	29.26	60.06
2020	2.95	6.37	10.01	9.46	9.32	19.47	28.79
2021	10.24	8.47	8.18	5.57	18.71	13.75	32.46
2022	8.3	6.25	6.39	4.36	14.55	10.75	25.3
2023	12.16	11.68	N/A	N/A	23.84	N/A	N/A

Table 2.

Report on the consumption of Chinese tourists (trillion).

Year	The first quarter	The second quarter	The third quarter	The fourth quarter	The first half year	The second half year	Annual total value
2019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2.78	3.85	6.63
2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2.23
2021	N/A	N/A	0.74	0.55	1.63	1.29	2.92
2022	0.77	0.4	0.55	0.32	1.17	0.87	2.04
2023	1.30	1.00	N/A	N/A	2.30	N/A	N/A

Figure 1.

The number of Chinese tourists (billion).

In stark comparison to the figures recorded in 2019, the tourism revenue for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 suffered a severe blow, dealing a significant setback to the growth of the tourism industry. However, a turning point emerged with the conclusion of the pandemic. China confidently proclaimed that COVID-19 was no longer an epidemic necessitating quarantine measure. The sports tourism industry, particularly the snow sports segment, has seen a rapid rebound in total value due to seasonal factors (see Fig. 2, which illustrates the consumption of Chinese tourists).

Figure 2.

The consumption of Chinese tourists (trillion CNY).

As a result, the tourism income in the first half year of 2023 reached 2.30 trillion, which is more than the previous year’s total income. The total number of tourist visits was 2.384 billion, an increase of 929 million (63.9%) over the same period last year, and even close to last year’s total tourist number (2.53 billion).

Although the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry has been fading after the cancelation of the prevention act, the 3 years pandemic influence on the economy still existing. As depicted in Tables 1 and 2, the tourism consumption in the first half-year following the conclusion of COVID-19 stands at 2.30 trillion CNY, exhibiting a noteworthy improvement compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. However, when comparing this figure to the tourism consumption during the same period prior to the outbreak (the first half-year of 2019), which amounted to 2.78 trillion CNY, there remains a reduction of over 20.8% in the first half of 2023.

3.2. The difference of townsfolk tourist number and consumption

Different from most of the counties around the world, the population distribution in China is widely divergent from other nations. According to the Report of the seventh National Census from The State Council of The People’s Republic of China,^[22] there are 63.89% Chinese people living in the town and city, while 36.11% of people live in the rural area.

Clearly, a significant proportion of China’s population resides in urban areas and towns. Consequently, this part aims to examine the distinct tourism behavior and intentions of both urban dwellers and rural residents separately.

As depicted in the aforementioned tables, there was a sharp decline in both the number of tourists and tourism revenue from 4.471 billion person-time tourists and 4.75 trillion CNY income in 2019 to 2.065 billion person-time tourists and 1.80 trillion CNY income in 2020. However, during the epidemic period, the tourism behavior and consumption of Chinese residents living in towns and cities exhibited relative stability. Specifically, in 2020, 2021, and 2022, there were 2.065 billion, 2.342 billion, and 1.928 billion person-time residents who traveled (see Table 3, which illustrates the number of townsfolk tourists), generating 1.80 trillion CNY, 2.36 trillion CNY, and 1.69 trillion CNY, respectively (see Table 4, which illustrates the consumption of townsfolk tourists). It is evident that the three-year epidemic has inflicted significant losses upon China’s tourism industry and sports tourism when compared to the pre-epidemic period.

Table 3.

Report on the number of townsfolk tourists (100 million).

Year	The first quarter	The second quarter	The third quarter	The fourth quarter	The first half year	The second half year	Annual total value
2019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	44.71
2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20.65
2021	N/A	N/A	6.26	4.08	13.08	10.34	23.42
2022	6.21	4.7	5.08	3.29	10.91	8.37	19.28
2023	9.44	9.15	N/A	N/A	18.59	N/A	N/A

Table 4.

Report on the consumption of townsfolk tourists (trillion CNY).

Year	The first quarter	The second quarter	The third quarter	The fourth quarter	The first half year	The second half year	Annual total value
2019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4.75
2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1.80
2021	N/A	N/A	0.62	0.45	1.29	1.07	2.36
2022	0.62	0.32	0.48	0.27	0.94	0.75	1.69
2023	1.12	0.86	N/A	N/A	1.98	N/A	N/A

However, after the Prevention Act lost efficacy, the first half of 2023 was recorded over 1.859 billion person-time tourists (see Fig. 3, which illustrates the number of townsfolk tourists), which data was closed to the sum of the last year visits, and the consumption was already over the total revenue of last year 0.29 trillion CNY to 1.98 trillion (see Fig. 4, which illustrates the consumption of townsfolk tourists).

Figure 3.

The number of townsfolk tourists (billion).

Figure 4.

The consumption of townsfolk tourists (trillion CNY).

3.3. The difference of rural resident’s tourist number and consumption

Compared to the citizens, the impact of COVID-19 on rural residents seems more serious. As the tables below have shown, after the repeal of the Prevention Act, the tourist behavior and tourism consumption recovered slightly to 0.525 billion with 0.32 trillion CNY tourism revenue (see Table 5, which illustrates the number of rural tourists). But still lag behind the same period of 2021, which is the second year of epidemic (see Table 6, which illustrates the consumption of rural tourists).

Table 5.

Report on the number of rural resident tourists (100 million).

Year	The first quarter	The second quarter	The third quarter	The fourth quarter	The first half year	The second half year	Annual total value
2019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	15.35
2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	8.14
2021	N/A	N/A	1.92	1.49	5.63	3.41	9.04
2022	2.09	1.55	1.30	1.07	3.64	2.37	6.01
2023	2.72	2.53	N/A	N/A	5.25	N/A	N/A

Table 6.

Report on the consumption of rural resident tourists (trillion CNY).

Year	The first quarter	The second quarter	The third quarter	The fourth quarter	The first half year	The second half year	Annual total value
2019	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.97
2020	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.43
2021	N/A	N/A	0.11	0.10	0.34	0.21	0.55
2022	0.14	0.09	0.07	0.06	0.23	0.13	0.36
2023	0.18	0.14	N/A	N/A	0.32	N/A	N/A

Data analysis results show that during the pandemic, the first half year of 2021 has still 0.563 billion person-time rural residents traveled, creating 0.34 trillion CNY tourism income(see Fig. 5, which illustrates the number of rural tourists). As a result, when the strictest pandemic restrictions are repealed, the travel behavior of rural residents is not as intense as we expected. As the report of 2019, there was over 1.535 billion person-time travel with 0.97 trillion CNY income from rural resident tourists (see Fig. 6, which illustrates the consumption of rural tourists). However, according to the report of first half of 2023, the person-time of trips and tourist income from rural residents has only recovered to a third of what it was before the pandemic.

Figure 5.

The number of rural resident tourists (billion).

Figure 6.

The consumption of rural resident tourists (trillion CNY).

Based on past tourism reports, the study found a phenomenon that the tourist number and tourism income of China in the first half of the year were normally higher than those in the second half. Therefore, research expects that the recovery extent of rural residents’ tourism will hardly surpass the year 2019.

3.4. Discussion

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the behavioral decisions of urban and rural residents (URR). Under the threat of severe health issues, many residents’ travel plans have been affected. The impact of COVID-19 on the tourism economy has sparked extensive discussions among numerous countries and international scholars. In the past, numerous scholars have aggregated studies on the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry, synthesizing them into review articles and exploring potential future trajectories of development.^[23–26] This study, grounded in the present, takes a data-driven approach to explore the development of China’s tourism and sports tourism industries in the post-COVID-19 era.

Undoubtedly, many academics deeming the study of this topic to be of significant importance and practical relevance. Scholars from Portugal have conducted a survey which nature is essentially identical to this study, exploring tourists’ travel during the pandemic.^[27] From a data perspective, the epidemic has inflicted a devastating blow to China’s tourism economy and, concurrently, has had a similarly detrimental impact on the country’s sports tourism industry. Comparative analysis of the officially published reports for China’s sports industry and tourism industry reveal, they’re correlated, a slump in both economic values and added value within the sports tourism.^[28–32]

Some existing studies have previously conducted preliminary research on the changes in Chinese residents’ travel habits and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic through the form of surveys and interviews. It was found that residents’ subjective willingness to travel indeed decreased significantly during the epidemic period, laying a solid foundation for this study.^[33] This research has found that the pandemic has had a profound impact on the tourism behavior of Chinese individuals, significantly influencing the revenue generated by the tourism industry and sports tourism, leading to a downturn in the tourism industry.

Despite serious infectious disease, during the three-year pandemic, the tourist numbers and income were indeed recovered in several periods. As the effects of the virus decreased, there was over 10% recovery of tourists’ numbers and expansion in the year 2020, since the spreading and the infection were under the control of the Chinese government. Regrettably, the virus experienced a resurgence in late 2021, significantly impacting the progress of the tourism industry throughout 2022, which made it even worse than the first year of the epidemic.

The turning point is at the end of 2023, China has released an optimistic signal to nationals, the COVID-19 is no longer the first-class disease which requires national-wide prevention. As the data demonstrated in the first half of 2023, the total number of tourist visits increased to 2.384 billion after the repeal of the Prevention Act. Evidently, the repeal is very effective to promoting residents’ travel behavior. These notable achievements have garnered positive responses from experts and society, instilling optimism in the Chinese tourism industry.^[34,35] However, although tourism industry recovery is fast and effective, research notices that the newest recorded values were still lag behind the same period before the pandemic.

Apart from this, the extent of recovery between townsfolk and rural residents is statistically various. It may represent that the epidemic had a stronger impact on rural residents than city ones. The three-year pandemic interrupted the development of the Chinese tourism industry. As the analysis result shown above, both URR were affected by the pandemic. It had affected rural residents more than the urban ones both in the tourism spent and tourist number.

With the conclusion of the Prevention Act, there has been a remarkable resurgence in people’s desire to travel, ushering in a splendid opportunity for the travel industry and sports tourism. Encouragingly, the records reveal a substantial recovery, as both the total tourism income and the number of tourists in the first half of 2023 approach levels seen before the pandemic. This phenomenon may demonstrated that the tourism potential of China did not disappear due to the three-year epidemic, and the sustainable development of the Chinese tourism market and sports tourism are still existing and desiring to expect and explore.

4. Conclusion

Data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, in conjunction with the General Administration of Sport, underscore a pronounced correlation between the trajectory of China’s sports tourism sector and that of the broader tourism industry. The COVID-19 pandemic, spanning 3 years, has exerted a profound influence on the travel inclinations of China’s citizenry by posing a significant threat to public health, thereby inflicting a critical setback on the tourism and sports tourism sectors. Despite intermittent resurgences in travel activities, the overarching trend was invariably circumscribed by prevailing health considerations.

Post the declaration of the pandemic’s conclusion by the Chinese authorities in 2023, the tourism sector has witnessed a swift resurgence, with travel indices reflecting a precipitous ascent to pre-pandemic levels of travel engagement and expenditure. The sports tourism sector has mirrored this resurgence, indicating a congruent recovery.

The research herein posits that the latent travel potential of China’s populace, while markedly curtailed throughout the pandemic, has not been eradicated by the pandemic’s exigencies. The economic vitality of China’s tourism and sports tourism sectors persists, and has begun to manifest its latent prowess, thereby commanding the attention of the broader society.

5. Research limitation

The present study primarily collates and investigates the official statistical data released by Chinese government, offering a descriptive statistical representation of the relevant findings. Given that China does not directly publish the total value and added value of the sports tourism industry, this study can only draw relevant conclusions by comparing the officially released reports on the total value and added value of the sports industry with those on the tourism sector. However, the research data cannot be subjected to mathematical verification or experimental replication, and the reliability of the study’s conclusions is predicated upon the trust in the official data disseminated by the Chinese government. In addition, the different data of URR support their tourism behavior under the epidemic, but it is not directly related to sports tourism. It is necessary to further verify the different attitudes of URR to sports tourism under the epidemic. Furthermore, the discussion in this study is primarily based on the direct outcomes of the data, without an in-depth investigation into the causes and underlying mechanisms that shape these data. Consequently, the conclusions drawn are limited in scope. Future research may consider building upon the findings of this study by conducting in-depth on-site research or qualitative field studies to explore the intrinsic reasons behind the observed phenomena.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Ao-Wei Zhang, Shijun Gong.

Data curation: Ao-Wei Zhang, Su Wang.

Formal analysis: Ao-Wei Zhang.

Funding acquisition: Ao-Wei Zhang, Wang Su.

Investigation: Ao-Wei Zhang.

Methodology: Ao-Wei Zhang, Dongxiao Liu.

Project administration: Ao-Wei Zhang, Huang Min-Yi Sammi.

Resources: Ao-Wei Zhang, Wang Su, Shijun Gong.

Software: Ao-Wei Zhang, Liu. Dongxiao.

Supervision: Ao-Wei Zhang, Dongxiao Liu, Huang Min-Yi Sammi.

Validation: Ao-Wei Zhang, Shijun Gong.

Visualization: Ao-Wei Zhang, Shijun Gong.

Writing – original draft: Ao-Wei Zhang.

Writing – review & editing: Ao-Wei Zhang, Huang Min-Yi Sammi.