Chinese travellers spend 8% more over May Day holiday than a year ago

BEIJING, May 6 (Reuters) - Chinese travellers spent 180.27 billion yuan ($24.92 billion) during the May Day holiday, one of China's longest breaks, a rise of 8% from last year, government data showed on Tuesday.

Spending over the five-day holiday, which ended on Monday, is an important marker of Chinese consumer confidence, which has suffered amid a challenging macroeconomic backdrop and prolonged property crisis.

Further economic pain from a recently ratcheted up trade war with the U.S. is also on the horizon.

China's tourism ministry recorded 314 million domestic trips during the holiday, an increase of 6.5%.

Spending per head during the period, a chance for people to go on family trips as the weather warms and spring flowers bloom, was up 1.5% to 574.1 yuan, Reuters calculations based on official data showed.

It remains below the level before the pandemic in 2019 when per capita spending was 603.4 yuan.

The number of transactions using Weixin Pay, a popular payments app in China, rose by more than 10% compared to the same period last year, with a notable increase in restaurant spending.

Cinemas, however, suffered a significant drop in ticket sales over the holiday period, with a box office total of 747 million yuan over the five days about half of last year's 1.53 billion yuan.

($1 = 7.2354 Chinese yuan)