Week-Long Holiday Proves China's Consumer Power

During the week-long Labor Day holiday, China witnessed avid shopping of travel items such as knapsacks, sportswear and sleeping bags, which once again suggested a vigorous domestic consumption power.

An owner of a popular sporting goods store in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, told Xinhua that his customers were more concerned with the quality of the gear than the price.

Items ranging from waterproof trousers to rock climbing gear were among the top sellers before and during the holiday.

Sales of video cameras and digital cameras also went up along with the tourism boom in large cities.

China's per-capita GDP exceeded 800 US dollars last year. According to Weng Xingde, a senior statistician, the desire for domestic travel will spread among the people when the per-capita GDP reaches 300 US dollars, and that for international travel will come when the GDP grows to 1,000 US dollars.

A forecast made by the State Development Planning Commission said that the country's tourism net income would soar to one trillion yuan in the next decade. The annual growth of net domestic tourism revenue is expected to average 100 billion yuan during the period.

This year's tourism industry has seen featured by a more orderly and more diversified performance than that of last year.

Libraries, theaters and museums became new spots for relaxation, which helped ease the heavy tourist flow in famous scenic spots this year. Cultural attractions have also been recognized as a new tourist growth point.

The seven-day holiday was designated by the Chinese government last year along with two others, the Spring Festival, or China's lunar New Year in February and National Day in October. Labor Day, which falls in the spring, is considered one of the best travel seasons in China.

Tourism has benefited more than any other industry from the long holiday. Tourism earnings were driven up by 12 percent last year to 317 billion yuan, based on an annual increase. Major tourist spots were unprepared for the huge crowds of travelers.

For example, in Guilin, famous for its limestone landscape and rivers, 300,000 tourists flocked in last year, almost equal to the city's population of 400,000.

The number of individual tourists bound for Guilin decreased during this Labor Day holiday, compared with the same period of last year. Travel agencies began to organize tours to Guilin a week before the holiday started.

No letters of complaints about tourist services were received in the city during the holiday.

In the southern scenic island of Hainan, which is famed for beautiful tropical beaches and colorful minority custom, the average hotel occupation rate went up to over 80 percent in the first three days of the holiday.

Many tourists were also keen on the real estate market on the island. The Real Estate Trading Center of Hainan finalized sales of 5,200 square meters of floor space worth 6 million yuan in the first two days of the holiday. Most of the home buyers were from outside of Hainan.

Tourism helped boost the expectation index of Hainan's real estate market by 45.41 points to 125.41, as surveyed by the local statistics departments.






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