BEIJING, July 26 -- Around 2.73 billion domestic trips were made in China in the first half of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 14.3 percent, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on Friday.

The figure included 1.42 billion trips in the first quarter and 1.31 billion in the second quarter.

A total of 2.73 trillion yuan (about 383 billion U.S. dollars) was spent by domestic tourists from January to June this year, up 19 percent from the same period of 2023.

The number of domestic trips made by rural residents increased by 21.5 percent year on year, with a 32.6 percent rise in spending compared to the first half of 2023. Both increases were significantly higher than those for urban residents, the data showed.