Tourists use their smartphones to capture the moment of the countdown to 2024 at the Window of the World theme park in Nanshan District during the New Year holiday.
Shenzhen received over 2.37 million visitors during the three-day 2024 New Year holiday, an increase of 92.26% year on year, local authorities said Monday.
Tourism expenditure during the festive period amounted to more than 1.6 billion yuan (US$224 million), up 100.99% year on year, according to the city's culture and tourism authority.
Shenzhen also secured its position among the top 10 most sought-after tourist destinations, standing out as the preferred choice for many on the first day of the holiday, Shenzhen Economic Dail reported.
Major tourist attractions in the city recorded around 1.1 million visits during the holiday, with OH Bay, OCT Harbor, Gankeng Hakka Town, and Fairy Lake Botanical Garden ranking among the top 10. OH Bay and OCT Harbor each witnessed a daily influx of over 100,000 visitors.
The majority of tourists in Shenzhen were locals, accounting for 67.33% of the total, followed by visitors from the Pearl River Delta region.
Domestic travel for Shenzhen residents during the New Year holiday experienced a spike of 113% year on year, with the most popular destinations including Changsha, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Xiamen, according to a report from the online travel giant Ctrip.
The number of outbound travel orders from Shenzhen residents during the New Year holiday surged by 260% compared to the same period last year. The most favored cross-border destinations for Shenzhen residents included Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Thailand, and Malaysia.
To ensure a safe and orderly holiday experience, the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau deployed 18,000 police officers and 600 police vehicles for daily patrols at key venues, including checkpoints, scenic spots, business areas, and densely crowded locations across the city. The robust security measures resulted in a 23.8% year-on-year decrease in reported public criminal cases.
Data showed that the average daily volume of vehicles on the road during the holiday reached 1.334 million, an increase of 17% year on year; and the number of traffic accidents dropped by 40% compared to a year earlier, according to the municipal traffic bureau.
Moreover, as part of the holiday exodus, approximately 1.03 million vehicles left the city, marking a 51% year-on-year increase. Simultaneously, the city welcomed 749,600 vehicles entering Shenzhen, showing a 4% year-on-year rise.