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Holiday proves golden for tourism

By Qian Yanfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-07 10:14

Passengers on a train in Hefei, Anhui province. People across the country are returning to work after the end of the weeklong National Day holiday. [Xinhua]

The weeklong National Day holiday proved profitable for Shanghai's tourism sector, which reaped record revenue despite concern over the impact of typhoon Jangmi.

This year's Golden Week brought nearly 5 million tourists to the city, pushing revenue up to 3.8 billion yuan ($555 million), a 15 percent increase year-on-year, according to statistics from Shanghai municipal tourism administration.

Yao Shuoye, a spokesman for the municipal tourism administration, said the growth was due to pent-up demand since the natural disasters in the first half of this year and the effect of the shortened May Day holiday. Starting from this year, the May Day holiday has been cut from seven to three days.

"National Day has been the longest break for Chinese people since the Spring Festival. Naturally, they have a much stronger desire to travel."

Yao added that the spring snowstorms and the May 12 earthquake had delayed many people's travel plans.

He also expressed confidence in even better prospects for the city's tourism industry, as Shanghai prepares for the 2010 World Expo. Inbound tourists are estimated to reach 7 million during the six-month event.

The past week has witnessed record highs in terms of tourist numbers and retail revenue in China, according to statistics from the National Tourism Administration.

Sales revenue nationwide increased 16.4 percent year-on-year while the number of tourists jumped 13.2 percent, signs that the country's tourism industry was back on track after the May 12 earthquake, the administration said in a statement.

In Beijing, tourism revenue reached 5.25 billion yuan, up 27 percent year-on-year. More than 8 million people flocked to the capital to visit Olympic sights and venues.

The Olympic Green, home to the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, attracted 2.17 million visitors during the first six days of the holiday.

A report from Nielsen and Ctrip.com, the country's biggest online travel booking service provider, showed that Beijing and Shanghai remain China's top two tourist destinations, with Beijing topping the list thanks to its post-Olympic appeal.