China's domestic tourist market will see during the forthcoming week-long International Labor Day holiday a record high of 60 million domestic travelers, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) said Wednesday.

The figure will be about 30 percent more than in the same holiday last year and the tourism industry is expecting to earn a total of 20 billion yuan during the period, the CNTA said.

The seven-day holiday starts May 1. About 46 million people traveled during the holiday last year, with a total travel expenditure of 18.1 billion yuan.

The CNTA said to date, nearly all hotel rooms in scenic locations such as Guilin and Wuyi Mountain have been reserved for holiday travelers.

Figures from transportation departments showed that railway tickets of passenger trains from Beijing to Shanghai and Huangshan Mountain for April 30 to May 2 have all been sold out and over 90 percent of air tickets for Beijing to Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Kunming and Haikou have been booked.

According to the CNTA, the number of Chinese residents traveling abroad will also be more than in last year. About 200, 000 tourists will go to Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Japan during the holiday.

The CNTA cautioned travel agencies against any accidents during the holiday and asked local tourism administrations and related government departments to strengthen supervision over safety measures by tourist services.

(People’s Daily 04/26/2001)