Guangzhou during the Spring Festival holiday. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, hosted a whopping 16.96 million visitors over the Spring Festival golden week, an increase of 8.66 percent year-on-year. 

Inbound tourists contributed 12.21 billion yuan ($1.78 billion) to the local economy, up 9.74 percent over last-year's seven-day Spring Festival holiday.

The combined business revenue of 13 key catering enterprises in Guangzhou monitored by the government over the Spring Festival hit 212 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.1 percent, the highest increase in recent years. Throughout the Spring Festival, 14 key retail enterprises in the city maintained a strong growth momentum, with an operating income of 847 million yuan, up 3.4 percent year-on-year.

Tourists pose for a photo near the Canton Tower, Guangzhou's most iconic building. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

Thirty-eight tourism attractions monitored by the government throughout the holiday hosted 3.88 million visitors, climbing 10.22 percent year-on-year, and made a total of 353 million yuan, up 18.71 percent. 

According to statistics from the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province, over 63.3 million tourists visited Guangdong during the 2019 Spring Festival holiday, an increase of 13.8 percent over 2018.