Economy

Markets

Industries

Insights

Reports

Events

Festival fails to lure tourists

By Xin Dingding (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-10 09:49

Despite getting three days' holiday for the Dragon Boat Festival on Sunday, travelers' response was cool, because of the Sichuan earthquake and the ongoing national college entrance exams.

This year's festival is an official holiday for the first time, after the State Council revised the holiday schedule to include three traditional events.

The previous two short holidays - Tomb Sweeping Day (April 4-6) and May Day (May 1-3) - both saw a robust tour market.

But the festival on June 7-9 has not attracted many people to hit the road for sightseeing.

"Prices of tour products for the Dragon Boat Festival have dropped to a level lower than the May Day holiday, and some routes even lower than that in the low season," Wu Jiaoli with Ctrip.com, an online tour service company, said.

However, the market responded coolly. Some agencies said their business was not even as good as an ordinary weekend.

The Ministry of Railways said at least 4.7 million people traveled by rail on Saturday, more than on the same day last year, but fewer than the 5.3 million on Tomb Sweeping Day (April 4) and the 5.9 million on Labor Day (May 1).

One reason is that the holiday overlapped with the national college entrance exam, and primary and high school students are all busy preparing for exams, Wei Bin, a manager with China International Travel Service (CITS) Qingdao, said.

Wu said most people are now taking a wait-and-see attitude toward tours to destinations in southwestern China, out of fears of aftershocks.