Overall tourism consumption during the holiday was 3.9% lower than in 2021 — at 289.12 billion yuan, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. That's well below pre-pandemic levels, and about 56.3% of tourism consumption in 2019, data showed.
Covid-related restrictions and generally weak consumer demand made it even more difficult for ticket sales to remain so high, he said in a note. "Anecdotal evidence shows that cinemas may have intentionally raised ticket prices in anticipation of much softer sales than last year, in order to compensate for the expected loss in profits."
This year's Lunar New Year box office of about 6 billion yuan was a touch higher than the 5.9 billion yuan recorded for 2019, the data showed. Theaters were essentially shut during the holiday in 2020 as seven films delayed their releases due to the coronavirus pandemic.Two years into the pandemic, China's movie theaters have had to deal with intermittent lockdown measures, as well as changes in the availability of films.
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