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A representative of the China National Tourism Administration, has told the media that although CNTA had not considered resuming the May Golden Week holiday, it was possible that the local governments at various levels may resume the holiday on a trial basis if they think it’s conducive to their economic development.

According to Chinese media, Zhao Xiqin, a former deputy director of CNTA and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, it was proposed in a team discussion during the latest CPPCC meeting that the May Golden Week should be resumed. Zhang said that after the long winter season, people will have a strong desire for a long week to travel and relax, and May holiday is the best season for them to do so. What’s more, the holiday plays an important role in promoting tourism development, and under the current global financial crisis, it is more necessary than ever to resume the holiday.

However, Cai Jiming, another deputy of the National Committee of CPPCC objected to Zhang’s opinion on the May holiday, believing that it is against the spirit of the country’s reform of the holiday system.

Representatives from CNTA are quoted by the local media as saying that a discussion needs to be held with the National Development and Reform Commission and approval gained from the State Council as to whether the May Golden Week could be resumed.

Golden Week

The China National Tourism Administration and the National Bureau of Statistics of China have jointly released statistics on the performance of China’s travel market during the recent Spring Festival holiday.

The Golden Week tourism report released by the two departments shows that China hosted a total of 109 million tourists during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday: an increase of 24.7% over the same period of last year. The country’s tourism income for the period increased by more than 23% and reached a total of CNY50.93 billion. Of the CNY50.93 billion income from tourism, CNY3.8 billion was contributed by the civil aviation industry and CNY2.26 billion by the railway sector. According to the report, 39 key tourism cities achieved a total income of CNY21.88 billion during the period, and the rest of the cities and scenic spots earned CNY22.99 billion.

An official from CNTA said that as the first golden week holiday in 2009, this year’s Spring festival travel market had four characteristics: a large increase in tourist numbers and tourism income; a general increase in domestic travel; a stable increase in outbound travel; and traveling is becoming an important way of spending the Spring Festival holiday.

During the holiday two outbound travel related accidents were reported, with three people injured during a Taiwan trip, and seven people killed and over a dozen injured while traveling in the United States.

Golden week