Golden Changes

By Wang Jun

When Chinas National Day holiday（October 1-7） first became the socalled golden week in 1999， some 28 million people took tourist trips within the seven-day period， generating revenue of 14.1 billion yuan （$2.1 billion）， according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

Such numbers， however， can now be realized within half a day.

During this years golden week， 593 million people—nearly half of the population—visited tourist attractions around the country and spent 482.2 billion yuan （$71.7 billion） during their trip， respectively over 20 and 30 times the same figures 17 years ago， according to data from the China National Tourism Administration （CNTA）.

Wei Xiang， an associate professor with the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， said the golden week has played a pivotal role in boosting domestic demand since its inception.

Since more government support has been put in place and the tourism industry is becoming increasingly well-regulated， the holiday will unleash more potential for lifting the slowing economy， Wei forecasted.

Easier trips

“Back in 1999， in the first golden week， I booked a hotel room via telephone， and 17 years later， I[still] booked one via phone. But what I use [now] is a mobile phone application，” Tao Zengrui， a retiree in Shanghai， told Xinhua.

From booking via phone calls or visiting travel agencies in person to booking online with mobile phones， making travel arrangements has become much easier over the past decades.

Ctrip.com， a leading travel agency in China， offered its services only by phone or at its branches 17 years ago. In the first decade of the new century， travel services moved online， and bookings via the Internet rapidly superseded those made in brick-and-mortar outlets.

Since 2010， the prevalence of smartphones has further changed the travel habits. To date， downloads of Ctrip.coms mobile app have exceeded 2.3 billion， and 70 percent of the companys business is transacted through mobile terminals， said the Xinhua report.

Liu Simin， Vice President of the Tourism Branch of the China Society for Future Studies， said tourism has flourished from the very first golden week. As peoples livelihoods improve， traveling is becoming increasingly easy.

“Its more and more convenient. More than 10 years ago， when I left here， we had to cross over four mountains to reach the highway，” said Liu Hong， who runs a business in Fuzhou， Fujian Province， talking about when she brought her family to visit her hometown， Longyan in the same province.

In 1999， only three passenger trains called at Longyan each day， but now even 60 bullet trains are not enough to meet the demand， said Qiu Ping， former head of Longyan Railway Station.

Whereas super-fast trains didnt exist in China 17 years ago， the nation now boasts some 20，000 km of high-speed railway. On October 1 alone， a record high of 14.4 million passenger trips were made via Chinas national rail network， up 15 percent year on year， according to the China Railway Corp.

The highway network has also expanded. In 1999， China had around 10，000 km of expressway. But by the end of 2015， having mushroomed to 96，000 km， the network had become longer than that in any other country worldwide.

As more families have acquired cars， more and more people have become interested in self-drive holidays. According to figures from the CNTA， of the 4 billion tourist trips made by Chinese citizens in 2015， 58.5 percent were self-drive tours， and by the end of 2020， such journeys will account for 70 percent of total tourist trips by Chinese.

Great changes have also taken place in civil aviation. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China， 9.96 million passenger trips were made through airlines during this years golden week， up 11.6 percent year on year.

On October 1， 1999， when Terminal 2 of Beijing Capital International Airport started trial operations， the airport handled only 400 flights carrying no more than 70，000 passengers per day， according to Guo Wenbin， senior business manager of the airports Operation Control Center. At that time， few people in China traveled by air.

“But now， more than 1，700 flights carrying 200，000 passengers operate at the airport each day. Three terminals are no longer enough to meet the demand， and Beijing is building a new airport，” Guo said.

Convenient transportation and tourism facilities have enabled people in China to travel further and longer.

In the first half of the year， Chinese made 2.24 billion domestic trips， generating tourism revenue of 1.88 trillion yuan （$280.6 billion）. The two figures increased 10.47 percent and 13.72 percent year on year， respectively. Meanwhile， 59.03 million outbound tourist trips were made by Chinese， according to the CNTA.

Bottlenecks remain

Over the past 17 years， peoples enthusiasm for traveling during the golden week has remained unchanged despite the overwhelming crowds.

They not only look forward to and enjoy the holiday， but also complain about the huge flows of tourists and poor quality of services. In an era of booming tourism， both the government and the industry should be better prepared.

Chinese only have two long holidays ev- ery year， the Spring Festival and the National Day. Liu Simin of the China Society for Future Studies said thats a bottleneck restricting development of the tourism industry. Huge demand for travel exists in China， so tourist numbers will continue to soar during weeklong public holidays.

“Two conditions must be met if people want to travel： money and time. As peoples living standards have improved， the first condition has been met. The main point now is they dont have enough time，” said Yang Shengbing， supervision and management division chief of the Hefei Municipal Bureau of Tourism in east Chinas Anhui Province.

According to Yang， in the future， the government must ensure people have more flexibility in scheduling vacations in order to diffuse the demand for tourism and alleviate the pressure on travel resources and infrastructure during the golden week.

The style of tourism has also changed. Chinese tourists used to favor package tours and were highly dependent on travel agencies and tour guides. These days， however， more and more are traveling independently and want services tailored to their requirements.

Li Shengwen， a senior executive at leading online travel agency Tuniu.com， said offering personalized tourism services based on big data is the inevitable trend for both online and brickand-mortar agencies.

Notably， though， in the face of such change， some of the most popular tourist destinations have failed to meet the demand for tourism in terms of transportation， accommodation and other ancillary services.

According to surveys conducted by the China Tourism Academy （CTA）， over the past seven years， tourism investment， tourist numbers and tourist satisfaction were all lower in the famous tourist destinations of Xian， Guilin and Huangshan Mountain than in cities in the Yangtze River Delta， which have fewer famous scenic spots but offer better transportation， accommodation and services to tourists.

Dai Bin， President of the CTA， said traveling is a lifestyle choice taken for the purpose of enjoying life in other places. Therefore a tourist destinations services will become increasingly important to attract visitors， even more important than its natural and historic attractions.

According to Liu Simin， the government， businesses and tourists should all make concerted efforts to promote sound development of the tourism industry.

The government must perform its duty of oversight well， businesses involved in tourism must upgrade their product offerings to better satisfy market demand， and tourists must transform their mindset to focus more on quality instead of price， he said.