Survey: Nearly Half Think "Golden Weeks" Will Fade out

The social research center of China Youth Daily and the news center of sina.com recently conducted an online survey on peoples feelings about the "golden week" system. A total of 3,021 people participated. The term "golden week" made 73.6% of Chinese respondents immediately think of "tourist crowds at the scenic spots."

Besides "tourist throngs," "golden week" also leads to thoughts of "packed lines for train and plane tickets" among 50.6% of the interviewees, but "a long vacation at last" for 49.4% of them.

As for past National Day "golden weeks," the survey shows 56.7% of the participants "relaxed at home" and only 10.4% "did some traveling out of the city." Regarding the question "How did you feel about this golden week?" 68.5% answered "just so-so" or "nothing special," while 17.3% said they "had a very good time."

Despite the perceived lack of interest given the responses the survey collected, statistics from the authorities tell the other side of the story over "golden week." During the past National Daily holiday, the number of domestic tourists swelled to 133 million, an increase of 19.3% compared to last year. Overall tourism income over this "golden week" reached 55.9 billion yuan, 20.7% more than last year.

The "golden week" system was launched in 1999 by the central government aiming to boost domestic demands. Since then, Chinese people can enjoy three week-long national holidays each year: Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) in late January or early February, Labor Day in early May and National Day in early October. These holidays became "golden" in May 2000 when an unexpectedly large number of people chose to spend the vacation traveling, spurring the rapid and increased development of Chinas tourism industry.

By adding "traveling" to the ordinary consumption list of average Chinese households, "golden week" has significantly boosted Chinas economy in the past eight years. Tourism alone has contributed to a total revenue of 626.7 billion yuan in the 18 "golden weeks" from the National Day holiday in 2000 to the latest one, excluding the Labor Day holiday that was canceled due to SARS in 2003. In addition, the past eight years have also seen a yearly growth of no less than 10% in both tourist numbers and tourism income over "golden weeks."

However, "golden weeks" have lost their luster in recent years, with rising complaints about overcrowded transportation and tourist destinations, expensive tickets and packed ticket lines, traffic jams and fly-by-night travel services. Voices calling for the reform or cancellation of "golden week" system are becoming more prominent.

The results of the recent survey show people are open to changing the current vacation system. A total of 61.2% of the respondents believe the "golden week" system "should have been reformed earlier." As for other options that may replace "golden weeks," 37.3% support "national enforcement of paid vacations for employees," 32.2% prefer to "take a day off on other major Chinese holidays such as the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival instead," and 15.1% would rather "work one more day per week to have a longer vacation at the end of each month."

As for "whether the golden week system will continue," 49.3% people think it will be replaced by other vacation systems in five years, while 33% believe it wont change in the foreseeable future.