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Millions indulge in holiday travel
As the week-long International Labour Day holiday kicked off yesterday, millions of Chinese started their journeys to see scenic attractions both at home and abroad, igniting China's tourism industry again after last year's travel boom in May.
According to the English-language newspaper China Daily, hotel reservations in popular tourist destinations including Guilin, Xiamen, Sanya and Zhangjiajie surpassed 80 per cent two days before the holiday, according to a travel information forecast released by the State Tourism Administration.
Seats, on both airlines and trains going to major tourist destinations in the coming days, have been fully booked for days, according to the forecast.
The railway department has added dozens of extra trains to its schedules for tourists, especially on the Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Huangshan routes.
Nearly 58 per cent of surveyed people choose to travel during the holiday, according to an online survey by the administration.
"I know there will be more people travelling than usual, but I cannot resist the temptation of such a long holiday in the spring sunshine, " said Jing Peng, a 23-year-old company worker in Beijing. He starts his journey to Zhuhai, in South China's Guangdong Province, with his friends today.
It is predicted that 200,000 people will go abroad to spend their seven-day holiday, the Beijing Evening News reported.
Besides the usual destinations like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, other countries including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan, which are newly opened to Chinese tourists in recent years, are also attracting more tourists than ever.
Ensuring safety and good order for travellers has topped the agendas of tourism authorities during the Labour Day holiday, according to vice-director of the administration, Sun Gang.
Between April 24 and May 8, a specially established office will be responsible for releasing tourism information forecasts for transportation and accommodation, as well as updating information on the current conditions of scenic spots.
[source: China Daily]
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