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Shanghai braces for the tourist flood this Mid-Autumn Festival
Millions of tourists are following their maps to Shanghai this Mid-Autumn Festival, making for a record-breaking holiday season
People waiting in line for train tickets over a national holiday. What do you get when 1.3 billion people get as much as 16 days off at the same time? Let’s just say you should avoid the train stations.
With October holiday almost here, the China Tourism Academy released its holiday forecast, saying that 210 million tourists will travel domestically during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, with a big bump for Shanghai tourism.
That’s on top of the number of people who will visit Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, as well as people taking the holiday to travel abroad.
The Mid-Autumn Festival holiday runs from September 22 to 24, while October holiday starts on October 1 and goes until October 7
“If people can get approval to take the week off between the two holidays, they can have a 16-day holiday, which is ideal for long-distance outbound tours,” said Dai Bin, head of the China Tourism Academy, to The China Post.
For those who are unable to manipulate their complicated holiday schedule and combine the two breaks, domestic travel is a better option, and signs are pointing to Shanghai for many.
According to the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, Shanghai is expected to be the most popular domestic tourist destination for the seven-day Chinese National Day holiday, as people flock to catch the 2010 Expo before it closes at the end of the month.
Zhu Chengrong, a senior official with the Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, told reporters that Shanghai expects at least 8 million tourists between October 1-7, Shanghai tourism up 40 percent from last year, according to a report by China Tourism News.
"There is no doubt that Shanghai will be the most popular destination during this year's National Day holiday," said Mao Weihai, a department manager of Shanghai Business Holiday Travel Service Company, to The China Post.
Not only is Shanghai benefiting from the tourist charge (although local residents might not appreciate it as much as the tourist companies), but Shanghai’s neighbors in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, are also reaping some of the benefits.
Mao said most Shanghai tourism agencies are expecting to see their profits in these areas at least double over Mid-Autumn and October holiday this year.
