The Chinese people made over 1.8 billion domestic trips in the first half of 2021, up by 100.8 percent from the same period in 2020, official data showed Thursday.

A total of 1.024 billion and 847 million domestic trips were made in the first and second quarter, a surge of 247.1 percent and 33 percent year on year, respectively, said China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Domestic tourism revenue stood at 1.63 trillion yuan (about $250 billion) during this period, up by 157.9 percent year on year, it said.

The country's tourism industry welcomed a fast recovery in the first half of 2021. Domestic trips and tourism revenue had recovered to about 60.9 percent and 58.6 percent, respectively, of the level of the first half of 2019, the ministry said.

China saw its per capita expenditure on tourism go up by 28.5 percent to settle at 872.27 yuan in the January-June period.

A report released by the China Tourism Academy in early July expected the country to witness about 2.6 billion domestic trips and 2.24 trillion yuan in tourism revenue for the second half of 2021, or 88 percent and 76 percent, respectively, reaching the level in the same period of 2019. 

(With input from Xinhua)