Second blow

The quake is the second disaster to negatively impact the country's tourism industry this year, after the worst blizzards to hit China in half a century wreaked havoc on the southern part of the country in February.

Prolonged cold weather put the chill on travelers' enthusiasm during Spring Festival. The country's tourism industry earned 39 billion yuan ($5.62 billion) during the Golden Week this year, 6.2 percent less than in 2007, CNTA figures show. Many popular tourist sites reported fewer visitors during the period, as weather and traffic concerns led many people to cancel travel plans.

"2008 will probably be a tough year for the country's tourism industry," Zhang said, adding that the cancellation of the Labor Day Golden Week holiday also negatively impacted long-distance travel.

China previously had three Golden Weeks a year - one during Lunar New Year, one starting from Labor Day on May 1 and one starting from National Day on October 1 - and these were the country's peak travel times. However, the government shaved several days off the Labor Day Golden Week starting from 2008, substituting it with three new public holidays on the dates of traditional festivals.

"Frequent natural disasters would dampen enthusiasm for travel, so we have upgraded travel companies' risk ratings," said Tang Jianwei, analyst with Guojin Securities, which has downgraded travel industry shares from "buy" to "hold".

(China Daily May 27, 2008)