Beijingers opt for suburban travel in shortened May Day holiday

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Tourism promotion has resulted in a travel boom in Beijing over the just-concluded Labor Day holiday, as the city recorded 3.7 million visitors from May 1 to 3, a rise of 22.7 percent year on year, according to local tourism authority Monday.

The municipal tourism bureau figures showed that tourism revenue totaled 1.24 billion yuan, up 32 percent from the year-earlier level.

The bureau said that the number of Beijingers traveling within the city rose by 24.5 percent year on year to 1.67 million in the three-day holiday. They spent 420 million yuan (62 million U.S. dollars) for travel.

The bureau said it launched a program to promote the city's new scenic spots, travels to its suburban areas and other tourism activities in neighboring regions during the holiday period, which attracted increasing tourists. Beijing's suburban areas received 1.14 million local tourists during the holiday, according to the bureau.

People only had three days off, and concerns over Influenza A/H1N1 and of savings amid the financial crisis made many people cautious to choose long travels, said Tian Ling, a manager of China Youth Travel Services.

She said that the agency mapped its recommended routes to suburban scenic spots and self-driving tours.

Chinese workers had seven days off, instead of the current three days, during the May Day holiday, before a new holiday system kicked last year.

Beijing was also one of the most popular tourist destinations for tourists from other parts of the country in the holiday, when more than 890,000 tourists from elsewhere of China visited the city, according to the tourist bureau.

The bureau said the per-capita tourist spending increased by 12.5 percent year on year even for Beijing local tourists during the holiday because of increased travel cost.

Junlinshengshi, a tourist agency, said the price of the city travel surged by about 30 percent for group tours.

Shanghai draws big crowds on May Day

BEIJING, May 4 -- More than 2.45 million tourists came to the city during the May Day holiday, about 20,000 more than last year, said the Shanghai Tourism Administration.

Suburban areas were the most popular travel destinations for locals. Scenic spots in Jinshan, Nanhui, Jiading and Qingpu districts all welcomed 11 to 23 percent more visitors than last May Day holiday, the administration said.

Downtown, Century Park and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower were the most popular destinations, officials said.

However, numbers were down at the Shanghai Sightseeing Bus Center, which saw about 30 percent less customers than last year's May Day holiday. Officials blamed the gloomy weather on Saturday and the economic downturn.

According to Ctrip.com, China's major online travel company, Shanghai was the most popular travel destinations on China's mainland for the holiday, followed by Beijing. The company said the ranking was made according to the amount of airline tickets sold and hotel rooms booked.

During the three-day holiday, the city's entry and exit authority served more than 158,000 tourists, up 7.1 percent from a year ago.

More than 2,700 tourists departed from Pudong International Airport between 7am and 8:30am on May 1, according to Pudong's entry and exit authority.

More than 60 percent of outbound tourists over the entire holiday visited Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Taiwan lifted its daily cap on the number of mainland tourists visiting the island from 3,000 to 7,200 before the May Day holiday.

The number of inbound tourists, including foreigners and citizens of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, increased 9 percent from a year ago.

As several major roads linking Pudong airport are under renovation, some passengers missed their flights due to traffic jams. On each of the three days, there were nearly 50 passengers who missed flights from Terminal 1 of Pudong airport.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Railway Administration, which oversees railway stations across the Yangtze River Delta region, handled more than 1.27 million passengers on May 1, up 12.9 percent, or 146,000 people, from a year ago.

The administration's railway stations in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Hefei and Changzhou set record highs for passenger numbers, officials said. The two major railway stations in Shanghai handled 257,000 passengers on May 1, while Suzhou's figure was 96,000. About 120,000 passengers launched their trips from railway stations in Nanjing on the same day. Meanwhile, 110,000 passengers set off from stations in Hangzhou.

Shanghai Railway Station on Sunday handled 240,000 passengers returning to the city from Yangtze River Delta region cities such as Nanjing, Hangzhou and Wuxi.