Tourism recovering steadily in central China's Hubei

WUHAN -- Tourism is steadily rebounding in Central China's Hubei province, which was once hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19.

The province received more than 6.78 million tourists during the recent Dragon Boat Festival holiday, said local authorities.

Tourism revenue generated during the three-day holiday that ended Saturday totaled 2.69 billion yuan (about $380 million

), according to the Hubei provincial bureau of culture and tourism.

Both figures mark a sharp drop from those for the same holiday last year, but they indicate that tourism is steadily rebounding in the once hard-hit province as the epidemic has eased.

As of Saturday, a total of 330 tourist attractions in Hubei had reopened, accounting for 85.3 percent of the total, the bureau said.

To prevent crowding, tourists were required to book tickets online, and the number of visitors was kept below 30 percent of the maximum capacity of each scenic area.

More than 620 travel agencies, 320 star-rated hotels, 101 cultural centers, 102 libraries and 114 museums in the province had resumed services.

No newly confirmed, asymptomatic or suspected cases of COVID-19 were reported in Hubei Saturday, the provincial health commission said Sunday.

Hubei had reported a total of 68,135 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 63,623 cases had been discharged from hospitals after recovery by the end of Saturday. The disease has claimed 4,512 lives in the province.