BEIJING, April 21 -- China saw nearly 1.22 billion domestic tourist trips in the first quarter of 2023, an increase of 46.5 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Friday.

Of these trips, 944 million were made by urban tourists, while 272 million were made by rural residents, according to statistics released by the ministry.

During the period, domestic tourism revenue reached 1.3 trillion yuan (about 189 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 69.5 percent compared with that of the same period last year, official figures showed.