The three ‘golden week’ holidays were originally introduced to increase tourism and free time. Starting in October 1999 it had a tremendous influence on the tourism industry. But holidays for a whole country on the same time brings big problems.
This topic has been a discussion among domestic tourism experts a long time. Zhang Hui, dean of the tourism administration department at Beijing International Studies University, introduced during a forum in Xiamen a possible solution to shorten the ‘golden weeks’ and increase the paid leave of Chinese employers.
This may be a good way to avoid the chaos caused by millions of domestic travellers during the ‘golden week’ holiday.
The current economic crisis is undoubtedly like a hammer blow to the China’s export businesses, through which the country has enjoyed decades’ prosperity. The media in China and globally, implicitly or explicitly, has reported the damaging effects China has felt in the current economic downturn, originally caused by the collapse of finances in the West. At present the mode of economic development is under review by the Chinese communist party. One concensus reached by many economists is that the era in which China’s economy was wholly dependent upon export to achieve economic growth is now a piece of history. So as to sustain China’s economic growth,the politicians’ thinktanks believe, how to unleash the potential of domestic market is the key to withstand the tidal wave of the recessionary forces primarily generated in the America and Europe.
Under such circumstances, discussions have been frequently found in China’s major newspapers with respect to whether or not it is the appropriate time to re-introduce the ‘Golden Week’ holidays to the public in expectation that milions of urban households would take advantage of the holidays to travel and thereby, stimulate the domestic demand and contribute to China’s national economy in the current economic slump led by weak demand from the western market. Before discussing the usefulness of the ‘reintroduction’, let us have a look at what ‘Golden Week’ holidays can offer and what ‘unleashing domestic market’ needs.
The reintroduction of ‘Golden Week’ holidays simply increases the leisure time avaialbel for households in China. The essence in stimulating domestic demand requires people’s consumption. It may seem odd to draw a conclusion that if households have more free time, their consumption will be increased, especially at this time when negative media reports have penetrated into every corner of the public and public confidence is severely affected.