Offer of extra time off work sparks a travel rush

A seven-day paid holiday order from the Hangzhou municipal government last month brought a rush of overseas travel arrangements by local residents and increased competition between travel agencies and domestic tourist attractions.

Hangzhou, the capital city of East China's Zhejiang province, will host the G20 Leaders Summit early in September. The municipal government released a notice on its website on June 30 that civil servants not essential to summit preparations, along with the employees of State-owned enterprises based in nine main districts of the city, can take an extra seven days of paid holiday from Sept 1 to 7.

It also suggested private enterprises offer their employees a similar amount of time off during the summit.