Holiday tourism in China is still a big money maker, as was proved by this year's National Day holiday week from October 1-7.

During "Golden Week," combined income from entrance tickets alone at 100 major tourists spots nationwide hit 379.43 million yuan (US$45.9 million), 20.9 percent higher than the same period last year.

These 100 places of interests, such as the Great Wall in Beijing, Mount Tai in East China's Shandong Province, and Potala Palace in the Tibet Autonomous Region, hosted a total of 11.67 million tourists, an increase of 5.7 percent over last year, according to a report issued yesterday by the National Holiday Affairs Office under the China National Tourism Administration.

People's enthusiasm for sightseeing seemed to be cooler, however, and tourism was not the top entertainment during the holidays.

A recent survey by Chinese website sina.com showed that only 14.8 percent among some 71,000 respondents said they would go on a tour over the holiday, while about 56 per cent said they would rather have a rest at home. Another 30 per cent of respondents said they would go to work or had not made a decision yet.

Unmanageable crowds of people and poor services prevalent at some tourist spots and travel agencies were the main reasons for less interest in tourism, although tourism authorities had promised service with "safety, order and efficiency."

The National Holiday Affairs Office received about 140 customer complaint calls during the holiday week, most of which reflected problems with bad service.

The "Golden Week" holiday economy has generated 152.5 billion yuan (US$18.4 billion) in tourism revenue over the past three years. As part of the service sector, the holiday economy cannot mature while the country's service industry stays mired at such a low level, experts say.

Meanwhile, the experts warned that tourist-saturated holidays could prove disastrous for cultural and natural sites.

(China Daily October 8, 2002)